The Hedgehog and the Bow
by Godzillaatlarge1457
Summary: This was written before the movie came out so don't expect the plot to be just like the movie. Merida was a princess who didn't want the job. Trying to escape from her problem, she makes a wish which takes her to the world of Sonic the Hedgehog, but when she finds out what has been going on since she left, it's a race to go back to her time and fix things before everything ends.
1. Trailer

The trailer opens up to a sweeping shot of a mountainous region, the mountains' peaks covered in snow and ice. There is a forest down below their range.

King Fergus (background): "Long ago, when I was just becoming a king, I had an encounter with a ferocious beast..."

The scene changes, showing Merida walking through a somewhat dark forest, her bow in hand and her arrow holder strapped to her back. She hears the sound of something running to her, so she pulls out an arrow and puts it in her bow, pointing the tip of the arrow around to where the source of the sound is coming from.

King Fergus (background): "It was an enormous beast, and it was coming straight for me."

Merida hears the sound of the footsteps getting closer and closer, so she pulls the arrow back and aims it at the clearing where the footsteps are the loudest.

King Fergus (background): "Then it—"

The scene quickly changes to a 10th century castle dining room, where Merida and her family (King Fergus, Queen Elinor, and Merida's three triplet brothers, Harris, Hubert, and Hamish) are eating dinner. Merida looks at her brothers.

Merida: "Attacked dad! Biting off his leg!" *says with enthusiasm*

King Fergus: "Aw, I liked telling that part."

The scene quickly changes back to the forest. Sonic the Hedgehog runs into the clearing and narrowly dodges an arrow, ducking so that it flies over his head.

Sonic: "Woah!"

Merida quickly puts in arrows, one after the other, in her bow and fires them at Sonic, who dodges them by ducking, moving to the side quickly, and other fast movements.

Merida: "Stay away from me, you strange creature!"

She keeps firing arrows, and Sonic keeps on dodging them before looking at her.

Sonic: "I'm not gonna hurt you!"

One arrow comes straight at Sonic's head, which he narrowly dodges. The arrow hits the tree Sonic was standing in front of, right where his head would have been.

Sonic: "Holy!"

The scene changes to a fly-over shot of DunBroch, a 10th century Scottish kingdom before zooming down to a big gathering behind the castle. Various people are doing many talents. One person is juggling swords and there are javelin throwers.

The scene cuts to Merida, who is at the gathering, getting ready to fire an arrow.

Merida (background): "I'm Merida. Most people call me Princess Merida, but I prefer just Merida."

Merida fires the arrow, which hits the target in front of her dead-center on the bulls-eye mark before the scene changes to Sonic and Merida walking side-by-side in the forest of Green Hill.

Sonic: "I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."

The screen turns black and the words 'In a world of tradition...' appear on the screen.

Scene change to Merida's bedroom where she and Elinor are.

Merida: "I don't want to act like a princess. I want to act like how I want to act. This is _my _life and I think I should act how _I_ want to. Not how you want me to act. I want to have freedom!"

The scene changes to a jungle area with Merida, Sonic, and Tails coming out of the jungle and into a clearing covered with ancient ruins and a small shrine in the center of the ruins.

Merida: "Woah."

The scene changes to an open ocean where Merida is standing ontop of the top wing of Tails' bi-plane The Tornado, holding onto the top while Sonic holds onto a stand that's in the back area of the plane and Tails is in the cockpit.

Merida (background): "I also want to experience new things."

Merida is smiling happily as she looks out at the water, the wind whipping through her red hair.

Merida: "This is _so _amazing! I wish this would never stop!"

The scene changes back to Merida's room with Queen Elinor looking at her.

Elinor: *sighs* "Merida, you're a princess, you should act like one. I know you don't like to, but it's for the best interest of your people, and for me. Now, start acting like one."

Elinor walks out of the room as Merida groans in annoyance and lays on her bed.

The screen turns black and the words 'One girl would turn it all...'

The screen changes to Merida standing in Mercilla the Wise Woman's hut, facing her.

Merida: "I just want to get away from it all."

Mercilla: "Then maybe you need to go somewhere else for a little bit."

Mercilla opens the palm of her hand, creating a large portal with the image of a green hillside with a large ocean in the background appear above the palm.

The scene changes to Merida, who is looking at all of her surroundings in Green Hill with amazement.

Merida: "This place is so cool looking."

The screen turns black again and the words 'Upside down' appear on the screen.

The screen then shows the ground of Dr. Eggman's fortress where tons of robots are. Merida is shooting at them with her bow and arrows while Sonic is doing multiple Homing Attacks on a group of Egg Pawns. Tails is flying overhead in The Tornado, transforming it into its battle mode before he starts strafing the robots on the ground.

Lord Dingwall (background): "This is war my fellow people. And I don't intend to lose it!"

The scene quickly changes to villagers battling one another in DunBroch, alongside the three lords (MacGuffin, Macintosh, and Dingwall) as they all try to get into the castle.

The scene changes to King Fergus, Queen Elinor and the triplets, who are hiding in the King and Queen's room.

King Fergus: "How did this happen?" *in a sad voice*

The scene changes to DunBroch being attacked by tons of Dr. Eggman's robots, before changing to Sonic and Merida as they battle some of the robots side-by-side. It changes to a scene of E-123 Omega pulling his hands into his arms and replacing them with turret barrels before unloading multiple bullets onto a large group of Eggman's robots while Shadow unleashes a Chaos Spear attack from his palm on a group of Rhino-Tanks as Knuckles rips two Egg Pawns apart.

The screen turns black.

Merida (background): "If you could change your fate... would you?"

The scene changes to Sonic and Merida walking through the Green Hill forest.

Sonic: "Well... not really. I like running and being free all the time."

The scene quickly changes to Sonic and Merida looking up at the form of the Eggasaurus Rex, a robot theropod dinosaur, with Dr. Eggman sitting in the cockpit that is above the machine's eyes. The Eggasaurus Rex snarls at both of them and lunges its mouth at them, but the scene quickly changes back to Sonic and Merida walking through the forest.

Sonic: "Well, I would change the part about me having to fight robots all of the time."

The screen turns black and the words 'The Hedgehog and the Bow' appear on the screen. Sonic appears ontop of the words, tapping his right foot impatiently before looking at his 'invisible watch' on his wrist.

The screen goes black again, but changes to Merida shooting an arrow at a large boulder in the ancient ruin near the Master Emerald shrine. The arrow hits the center of the rock.

Knuckles: *laughs* "You didn't even break it."

The scene quickly changes to the rock breaking apart, crumbling into little pieces. Merida looks at Knuckles, who has a shocked look on his face, and smirks proudly before the screen turns black.


	2. Chapter 1:The Story Begins

Here's my Sonic/Brave crossover. :) Just right off the bat I will tell you, this will not have the same plot as the movie, so you don't need to tell me. I wrote this around December of 2011 so I had no idea of how this movie was gonna go, so I had to come up with most of it on my own. It also is the reason why some characters don't act like they do in the movie (mainly the triplets). I didn't try and write a new one because A.) I am lazy, and B.) I thought it was a very good story and it was original... sorta. Yeah, the characters sometimes sing. I kinda wanted them to sing so please don't pelt me with any stones or rocks or anything. Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

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**((Youtube: watch?v=m_J4eai7b14 starts playing))**

'A long time ago, back when I was only a teen, I made a long trek through the forest, the very same forest that is still here today. I was only nineteen and I was a young king. I had gone into the woods for a hunt that day,' a Scottish male voice monologed as a teenage boy walked through a dark forest, a bow and some arrows in hand. The teen was holding the bow in an attack position, with an arrow already inside and pulled back, turning the weapon left and right sharply in a scared manner.

'I had been separated from my friends and was all alone.' The teen stopped suddenly once a loud and ferocious growl rang out from the inner part of the forest. 'That was when a loud growl entered my ears.' The boy cautiously walked closer to where the sound had came from, which was from some nearby brush.

'I went over to the brush, cautious as can be. Then... it attacked.'

From the brush leaped a large bear. 'Out of the brush came a gigantic black bear, but it wasn't an ordinary one. This one was pure evil. It's eyes were pupil-less and yellow. The mouth of the beast was filled with razor-sharp teeth, as were the claws that were attached to the muscular arms and strong toes. It towered over me, and I was only 5'11 at the time, so it was about 13 feet tall.'

The bear roared angrily, lunging at the boy. The boy rolled away, causing the bear to miss it's mark. Pulling back the arrow in the bow, the boy fired, hitting the bear right in the side. The bear roared in anger before charging forward, sweeping its clawed hand at the boy's face, but the boy rolled away again, firing another arrow once he regained his footing. The arrow landed on the bear's chest, causing it to roar in anger once again.

'The battle shifted back and forth. I managed to dodge more of the beastly bear's attacks, but I wasn't nimble enough.'

The bear was hit with another arrow, striking its right shoulder. The bear got on all fours and charged at the boy, who was running away from it as fast as he could go.

'As it gave chase, I ran as fast as I could, but it was a lot quicker.'

The bear lunged forward, gaping-mouth closing in on the boy's right leg.

'It then—'

**((Music Stops abrubtly))**

"Attacked dad! Biting his leg off!" shouted Merida, who had gotten up from her seat at the dinning table, and got in front of her three brothers, making giant biting movements with her arms and used her fingers as teeth. Merida was a 5'4 female with curly red hair. Her head was shaped sideways ovalish-like with blue doll-like eyes, a little nose and a small mouth. She was only nineteen years old.

Her brothers, named Harris, Hubert, and Hamish, looked almost identical to each other, were all 4'7 with red curly hair and blue eyes, just like their sister Merida. They gasped at Merida's movements.

"Aw, I like to tell that part," King Fergus said. King Fergus was sort of roundish around his waist area. Like his children, he had red hair, which was on his beard and sideburns. His lower right leg now had a wooden peg leg to replace the one the bear in the story bit off. His 6'1 size dwarfed everyone who was at that table.

Merida giggled a little before returning to her seat. "I know, but so do I."

Queen Elinor simply sighed a little before going back to eating her dinner. Elinor was slightly slim with long brownish-black hair which was almost the length of her body. She had tanish-brown eyes.

The scene stops abruptly . 'See that girl there? Whoops, wrong person,' a Scottish girl's voice said before laughing. It goes back to Merida, who is smiling a little bit. 'Much better. That's me. I'm Merida. People in my kingdom call me 'Princess' Merida, but I prefer just Merida. Yes that's right, I'm a princess, but I really don't want to be one. It's just too boring for my taste.'

The scene goes to King Fergus, who is about to take a big bite out of a big turkey leg he has in his hand. 'That's my father, King Fergus. He's really awesome and his stories are so amazing. His life is the life I want to live... well, mainly the adventures, I do like being a girl.'

The scene returned to Elinor, who is looking down at her food, about to use her fork to get some corn. 'That's my mother, Queen Elinor. She wants me to be 'the perfect little princess,' Merida's monologuing voice says in disgust. 'Ugh. She doesn't like me to do any of the things I like doing, mainly archery, because they're 'not proper' for someone like me to do.'

The scene goes to Merida's triplet brothers. 'These are my three little brothers who I love to death, even if they do aggravate me some times. Their names are Harris, Hubert and Hamish. They can get into about anything and not get away with it,' she said with a laugh.

'Well, the main reason for why you're here is probably to hear me tell you my story. This is a story about how my one little wish for me to have some freedom almost caused the destruction of the kingdom of DunBroch and how, thanks to a little hedgehog and his friends, I managed to get that freedom and save everyone.'

The screen goes black and 'The Hedgehog and the Bow' appears.

The scene opens back up with a clean sweep-over of the kingdom of DunBroch in afternoon. DunBroch is an ancient Scottish kingdom located none-other than the highlands of Scotland. Since this is the 10th century, there isn't really any big technological breakthrough of sorts. There were three main villages in the kingdom, which make a triangular shape if you looked at them from overhead. The villages were governed by a lord, and the lords were governed by the king and queen. Surrounding the kingdom was a large forest and in the center the villages was a large castle.

The large castle was made up of bricks and on the front of it was a large wooden drawbridge/door. Around the castle were window openings all over. Behind the castle was a large, grassy area.

A very large group of people, namely the entire kingdom, was in the grassy area behind the castle today, mainly because today was a special day. Along the sides of the grassy area were large rows of seats, which were filled with a lot of the people in the kingdom. In the front of the grassy area, near the backside of the castle, was a large seating arrangement for the royal family and the three lords of the kingdom; Lords Dingwall, Macintosh and MacGuffin.

Lord Dingwall was a little bit on the heavy-weight side, but not that much so. He had multi-layered chins and brown eyes. His hair was white, which was ontop of his head, eyebrows, mustache and on his arms and legs, with some on his chest. His head hair stuck up a little bit. He wore a forest-green shirt with a multi-colored green and brown sash and kilt.

Lord Macintosh was a really skinny man with poofed-up crazy style black hair on his head. His beard was also the same color, but it was graying up a little near the base of his chin. He wasn't wearing a shirt, but quite visible were the blue tribal-like tattoos on his chest, arms and legs. His eyes, like the tattoos, were blue. The sash he wore was red and green, as was his kilt.

Lord MacGuffin had the same body area size as Dingwall. He had blondish-brown hair, which was on his head, mustache and beard, which matched his brown eyes. In his mustache and head hair there were brown hair bands that made the ends looked puffed up a little. He wore an armored suit with a square-striped green and brown colored sash and kilt with black boots.

Queen Elinor looked around from her seat, searching for Merida. Merida's seat, which was next to King Fergus' in the royal family seating, was empty. She turned to Fergus, tapping his shoulder, getting his attention. "Where is Merida? She's supposed to be here," she whispered.

"I don't know, she was getting ready when I went to check on her. I'm sure she'll show up," he replied, putting a hand on his wife's shoulder comfortingly.

Elinor sighed and nodded. "I suppose." She looked back at the large grass field before her. '_Where could that girl be?'_

Merida walked out of the castle, heading straight to the back area. "I hope this works," she said with a hopeful sigh. She was wearing a dark blue robe with a hood connected and wore brown boots. She pulled the hood up, which covered her head. She walked out amongst the many people there, her bow in hand and her arrows in her brown arrow case that was on her back. Archery was the one thing Merida loved to do more than anything. It made her feel free and alive, as well as give her an adrenal rush. '_If only mom understood,' _she thought to herself as she continued forward.

Trumpet fanfare rang out through the courtyard, signaling the start of the event at hand. As all of the villagers turned to the royal seating area, King Fergus rose from his seat.

"The Annual Warriors' Feats of Strength will now begin. This is a competition to all warriors who wish to show off their strength. Now, let us begin."

The king's words brought cheers of excitement and eagerness from the crowd before him. As Fergus sat down, the competition began.

The royal family, minus Merida, watched as they saw men of incredible strength lift heavy boulders over their heads and toss them with ease as if they were pebbles. One man showed his ability to breath fire, which was done by him holding a torch to his mouth and blowing on it. Needless to say, the fire that got started in his beard was safely put out in time.

**((Youtube: watch?v=Nvl-8nCKI3A starts playing))**

Merida watched as the burnt bearded fire-breather was taken away to the closest hospital. She sighed and saw two villagers bring out the archery targets. She was nervous, not because of the pressure that was hanging on her shoulders, it was because she might get caught by her mother. This, like so many of her other favorite things, wasn't 'proper' for a princess to be doing. Merida saw someone motion for her to go out to the main area. As she walked out into the center, she took in a deep breath and hoped no one would recognize her.

As Merida walked out into the center, Fergus and Elinor looked at her closely, not knowing who she really was.

"I wonder who that is?" Fergus asked.

"I don't know," Elinor replied, looking at the robed figure closely. She recognized that robe from somewhere, but she couldn't remember where.

Merida put an arrow in her bow once she was as far back from the target as she wanted, which was halfway away from it. She preferred to start out from right there. She studied the target for a few seconds before firing the arrow, nailing the bulls-eye dead center.

The crowd cheered a little bit, causing Merida to smile. '_Now it's time to show off a little,' _she thought to herself. She walked further away and once she was where she wanted to be, she stared at the target once more, carefully studying it now that it was further away. She quickly turned her back to the target and got a new arrow in her bow. With her back still turned, she aimed the bow from over her head. After she made sure she was in the right position, she fired the second arrow, once again nailing the bulls-eye dead center.

The crowd cheered louder, loving this all the way. Merida's smile got wider and her mind started thinking up one more trick to do. '_I got it!' _she thought as she got another arrow from her case, putting it in her bow.

"Wow, this guy is really good," Fergus said, watching with enthusiasm.

"He really is," Elinor replied, still studying the figure's robe carefully. She couldn't get it off of her mind that she had saw that robe somewhere before.

Merida quickly fired her first arrow upwards, watching its descent before quickly getting another arrow from her case and fired. The second arrow streaked upwards, heading towards the first arrow before cutting into it, breaking the falling arrow in half. As the crowd cheered excitedly, Merida quickly turned back to the target and put in another arrow, firing it at the bulls-eye once again. The arrow hit an arrow that was already there, splitting it down the middle with the recent one in it.

The crowd went wild as Merida held her hands up into the air, a big smile on her face. She looked up at the royal seats and saw her family, plus the three lords, clapping. Even though she knew they didn't know it was her, she still felt proud and happy she had amazed them. The next sound she heard made her smile disappear and her face turn pale.

**((Music fades out))**

The crowd had begun to chant 'Take off the hood' after one crowd member started chanting it. She sighed, knowing it wasn't going to be easy to not do it. In her Scottish kingdom, if a warrior concealed their facial features, it was mandatory for them to reveal their face or have them and their family name dis-honored. She sighed, not wanting to dis-honor herself or her family, and pulled back her hood, causing her curly and wild red hair to flop out. '_I hope mom won't get too mad,' _she thought.

The crowd fell into a hushed silence after Merida showed herself. "Princess Merida?" "What's she doing out there?" "How is she out there?" These were all of the questions that came from the puzzled crowd, which were all interrupted by a loud shout. "Merida!" which came from Elinor. Elinor got out of her seat and began her march over to her daughter.

Merida cringed at the sound of her mother's voice. "Hooboy," she mutter. This was not going to end well. "Hi mom," she said with a nervous smile and a little wave.

"Merida, what are you doing out here? You are supposed to be with us up there," Elinor said, angrily pointing to the royal seating.

"I know, but it's _so _boring there, so I thought I'd do my little act."

"You are on thin ice as it is Merida, what with your little sneak-out with your horse that nearly got you lost in the forest."

"I didn't mean to get lost. I thought I knew where I was going."

"You shouldn't have even been out there. And the little archery show you did back there isn't–" Elinor is quickly joined by Merida. "proper for a princess," Merida said, saying it in annoyance as she moved her head left and right in a mocking-like manner.

Elinor sighed in frustration. "Why don't you just accept this duty as your fate?"

"Because I don't want to be a dolled-up little girl who acts like a preppy know-it-all!" Merida shouted, stopping once she realized she actually shouted that. '_Uh oh, now I'm in for it,' _she thought.

Elinor now had an angered look on her face after what Merida just said. "You will _not _talk about your duty in that sort of manner! Go to your room immediately!"

"Fine, I'd rather be there than here, getting lectured by someone who wants to control my life." Merida left the area, going back to the castle. Everyone there was left speechless over what they had just witnessed and heard.

Elinor looked at the crowd and sighed, a nervous smile on her face. "She's just had a bad day today. Excuse me while I go talk to her again." As she followed her daughter, she lost her smile and replaced it with a look of annoyance. '_Why won't she just accept the fact that she's a princess and that she cannot do those things? It would be easier for everyone around her,' _she thought to herself.

Fergus turned to the crowd and nodded. "Well, lets just continue the competition and just try to forget that little scene," he said with a nervous laugh.

Merida entered her room and sighed, knowing her mother would be coming in anytime soon. Merida's room had sky blue walls and green flooring, making it resemble the outdoors. There was a bed, a dresser, and a single table with chairs scattered about inside the room, along with many fun objects and books. As Merida laid down on her bed, her mother came in, causing a sigh to emerge from her mouth.

"Merida, you really need to stop doing all of this, this—" Elinor began, but was interrupted by Merida.

"Independence wanting? Why should I? I have the god-given rite to be whoever _I _want or act however _I _want to act."

"I know, but it's not right for a princess to be doing all of those things you like to do."

"I don't care if it's not right!" Merida shouted, sitting upright. "I don't want to be a pretty little princess or your exact copy. I want to have a life of my own. I want my own freedom!" Merida got off the bed and looked at her mother with a serious look. "I want to see new places and experience new things."

Elinor looked back at her daughter. "Then answer this. What price would you pay for your freedom? Would you trade your old life, your family, what would it take?"

Merida opened her mouth, about to say something, but closed it slowly after she hesitated.

"That's what I thought. For that little out-burst and for embarrassing your family out there, you're grounded until the royal ball." Elinor left the room, going back to the competition.

Merida sighed in annoyance before laying back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. "Why am I a princess? I wish I could change my fate." Merida got up and walked over to the window, looking out it and watched the competition continuing before she softly started to sing.

_Some days I just feel trapped._

_Stuck as a princess._

_I can't do what I like to do._

_Because it is called un-proper._

_I can't do my archery. _(She tosses her bow and arrow case aside.)

_My mom said it's for the men._

_She just wants to me to read. _(She picks up a book.)

_But they are just so boring. _(She tosses the book over her shoulder.)

_I just want to shoot my bow._

_I'm trapped as a princess._

_Everyone out there is having fun. _(She looks out the window, seeing the competition.)

_I would rather be there with my bow_

_Than trapped in here._

_I don't want to go to parties or dances or balls._

_I like my robe and hood, not my dress. _(She tosses her green dress aside.)

_I like the dirt and the smell of the outdoors, so keep that makeup away! _(She knocks makeup bottles away)

_The royal life is just so boring, I just want to leave it all behind._

_My father's stories are so amazing._

_I would love to be like him._

_If I could go on those same adventures,_

_My life would be so grand!_

(She sighs sadly and lays back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.

_But I'm trapped as a princess..._

_I'm trapped as a princess..._

_And will never be free._

Merida closed her eyes and fell asleep not too long after.

Hours later, the competition ended and everyone there returned home. Fergus and his family entered the castle. While Harris and his two brothers went upstairs to their room, trying to hide the fact they had stolen sweets on their persons, Elinor turned to Fergus.

"Maybe you'll have better luck talking to her," she said.

Fergus nodded his head and began to go up the stairs, heading for his daughter's room. Once he got there, he saw her laying on the bed. "Merida?" he asked in a somewhat medium-leveled voice.

Merida's eyes opened quickly and she sat up, seeing her father standing in the doorway. "Yes dad?"

"Listen hunny, your mom sent me to talk to you."

"Oh..." she said, sighing before looking at her bedspread.

"Merida, you have a duty to be a good princess. I know you don't want to act like one, but it's your role and you have to do your role in the way it was meant to be played out as." Fergus sat on the edge of her bed, looking at her.

"I know but... it's just not how I want to act. I'm not a princess kind of girl."

"Can you try to be one? For your dad?"

Merida looked at him and after a few minutes, sighed. "I'll try."

"That's my girl," Fergus said, rubbing her head, causing a smile to appear on her face. "Maybe you'll have fun this time at the ball," he said before going back downstairs.

Merida groaned. The ball. She had to get away from this princess role. A smile came across her face as a plan came into her head. '_I know someone who can help me, but since I'm grounded, I can't go. I know, I'll just sneak out,' _the thought sounded in her head. Merida quickly grabbed her bow and her arrow case, putting them on the back of her robe. She crept out of the room, slowly passing her brothers' room, but a little voice made her stop dead in her tracks.

"Where are you going sissy?"

Merida turned around and saw Harris, Hubert and Hamish standing at the doorway, looking at her. "I'm just going to go away for a little bit," she whispered. "I'll be back, I promise."

"But mommy said you were grounded," Hamish said.

"I know, I know, but I _really _need to go so please don't tell mom and dad," Merida said with a pleading look on her face. "I'll give you my desert for 6 months."

The three brothers looked amongst each other for a few seconds before nodding their heads. "We won't tell."

Merida smiled and hugged each of them. "Thank you so much. Now, go on and play," she said with a smile before playfully pushing them back into their room. Merida headed downstairs, sneaking quietly down the staircase. Once downstairs, she heard her parents talking, mainly about her. She paused her descent, making sure she couldn't be seen while she listened.

"Elinor, do you really think we should make Merida act exactly like a princess? I really don't think she'll ever change her opinion about it so we should just let her act how she wants... that isn't in a disrespectful or disruptive way," Fergus said.

"No, she needs to learn how to accept it. If she was to keep acting like she does, many of the villagers would think she wasn't meant for the title of princess," Elinor replied.

Fergus nodded. "I guess," he said with a sigh. He wanted his daughter to be herself, but the fact it would cause people to not even care about her right to even have the title of a princess prevented him from pushing it too hard onto Elinor.

Merida sighed a little, knowing her father couldn't even persuade her mother. She crept down the stairs and continued her way out of the castle. It wasn't long before she got outside.

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End of Chapter 1

**A/C: **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. More to come. I had to edit somethings before I could upload it. First I had to change the Triplets' names and add their mischievous personality to them. When I first wrote this, their names were Baston (Harris), Grim (Hubert), and Marcus (Hamish), and the kingdom of DunBroch was called Highlandera (stupid name, but I'm not good at coming up with names).


	3. Chapter 2:Meeting of the Heroes

Here's the second chapter, enjoy.

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Merida had managed to creep out of the castle without being detected by any of the guards, making it into the closest town that led to the forest. As she trekked through the town, she passed the townspeople quickly. If she wanted to get to the forest fast, which she did, she would have to go and get her horse, Angus.

**((Youtube: watch?v=qU3mfAdDx6Y starts playing))**

She had finally reached the horse stable where Angus was after a couple of minutes. Much like the other buildings in the kingdom, it was the same architecturally, but inside was another story. There were many stables for the many horses that called this their home. Most of the horses inside were mainly used for either hunting trips, riding, or for the guards whenever either a prisoner or a person went missing in the forest and they had to find them as quick as possible. As Merida walked past the many stables, she found Angus at last.

"Hey buddy," she said with a warm smile before reaching out to pet his head.

Angus neighed to her happily, allowing her to gently rub his face. Angus was a black horse with an equally black mane and stumpy tail. There were some bits on white on his body, which were on his legs going down to his light grayish-tan hooves and going down the middle of his forehead, connecting with his mouth. The white forehead streak brought out his brown eyes from the otherwise all black head.

Merida and Angus had been together for a long time. Ever since Merida was little, she had always wanted a horse for herself. She pleaded with her parents constantly until they finally agreed that she could have one (after some convincing she was ready for one of course). When they went looking for one, Angus was among the first of the horses they saw, which was when he was only a little foal. He was a lot more friendlier than the other horses, coming right right up to Merida and giving her licks on her cheek. On that day, Merida and Angus had become the best of friends.

"Hi there boy," Merida said as she rubbed his head softly. She reached into her robe's right pocket and pulled out some sugar cubes. "Here you go pal," she said, handing one to him, which he ate up happily. The licking from Angus on her hand caused her to giggle, which inadvertently got the attention of the stable-master.

**((Music stops))**

"Who goes there?"

Merida turned away, looking at the man who was approaching her. "It's just me, Merida."

"Oh okay. I was just making sure it wasn't someone who wanted to steal your horse or something like that," the man replied before going back to his work.

Merida knew that no one would dare to steal her horse, mainly due to the fact that the entire kingdom would be looking for him and that Angus wouldn't allow that to happen to himself. She led Angus out of his stable before giving him another sugar cube. "Okay Angus, we've got to make a little trip to the woods. Think you can handle it?" she asked with a joking laugh. She knew he could handle just about anything that could be thrown at him.

Angus neighed happily, nodding his head. He was always wanting to impress and make Merida happy.

"Good," she replied, saddling him up and getting. She got him trotting forward, going out of the stable. "We'll be back in a little bit," she told the stable-master before getting him galloping in the direction of the pathway that led into the woods. She looked at Angus, who was keeping his eyes forward. "We're going to see Mercilla."

**((Youtube: watch?v=iHlylv6nH1A starts playing))**

The ride in the forest wasn't that bad, mainly due to Merida and Angus having traveled through here many times in the past. They usually came here when Merida went to practice her archery skills, which was how she and Mercilla met one day.

Mericlla was an old woman who knew many things about the past and some parts of the future. She also had many powers, both weird and unusual. Merida met her when she was practicing and lost her footing, causing her to fall down the side of a steep hillside after some of the ground she was standing on gave way. The fall caused Merida to go into a small valley-like area. Mercilla had saw this and quickly came to Merida's aid. Ever since then, they've been good friends.

It didn't take long for them to reach Mercilla's little area of living. The area was basically a small clearing of forest with a little pathway that led to a small, wooden hut with large, large leaves making up its roof. Along the pathway were wooden posts that were topped with blue-colored flames. The unusual color of the flames were another show of the wise woman's strange powers.

**((Music stops playing))**

Merida got off Angus, gently patting his nose once she was on the ground. As she gave him another cube, she gently talked to him. "I'll be right back. This won't take too long." Merida walked along the small path as Angus watched her closely. Once she reached the door, she knocked on it a couple of times. "Mercilla, are you home?" After waiting a few moments, the door opened, revealing an elderly woman.

The woman's face was wrinkly, as was the rest of her skin. Her hair and eyebrows were white while her eyes were a dark green color. Her 5'5 height made her a little bit taller than Merida, but not by that much. She wore a black robe with a hood that was located at the back, which was now concealing part of her face. This was Mercilla, the wise woman herself. "Hello there Merida. How are you doing today?"

"Not that good. I was hoping you could help me with a problem that I have," Merida replied. "Can I come in?"

"Sure, sure," Mercilla replied, backing away from the entrance to let Merida in.

Merida walked into the hut, looking around inside. She had never been in Mercilla's home before, so it was sort of a new experience for her. Inside it was very humbly-like, despite the lack of any nice-looking furniture she was so used to. There was some light for the room in the form of some wooden posts alight with the blue flames.

As Merida took a seat in one of the wooden chairs, Mercilla also took a seat. "So child, what is it that's been troubling you?"

"Well," Merida started, taking a deep breath, which she let out in a sigh. "My mom and dad, to some extent, have been trying to make me act like something I don't want to act like, which is acting like a princess with a princess attitude. They want me to be the perfect little princess, despite me objecting to it time and time again, which they just ignore, when they know I don't want to be like one. I just want to get away from it all. I want to take a small break and not have to worry about what they'll try to do to influence me."

Mercilla nodded, understanding about her problem. A smile broke out on her face when the solution popped into her head. "Then why don't you go somewhere else?"

Merida gave her a confused look. "Like where? I'm sure mom and dad would find me if I'm here or anywhere else in the kingdom, and I don't want to go too far away from here anyways."

"I meant into the future, child," she said with a joking laugh. "I can transport you into the future. Your parents won't be able to bother you there."

After Mercilla said that, Merida got an interested look on her face. "Hmmm, I would like to know what the future looks like. Can you show it to me?" Wonder was clearly in her eyes as she said this as she approached the wise woman.

**((Yotube: watch?v=mDhAjX7AS6E starts playing))**

"Very well," Mercilla replied. Once Merida was beside her, Mercilla's right palm released a large purple energy ball. After it grew to about a good enough size, which was roughly about the size of a tree stump. an image of a large, modern (by today's standards) city appeared. The city was full of towering skyscrapers, who's structural materials Merida didn't recognize, and the streets with cars. The image faded away and in its place was one of a tropical beach, filled with ancient ruins which were colored red and white. On the beach, palm trees were caught in mid-sway from a gentle breeze, while out in the water, an Orca whale had leaped out of the cool, blue sea. The image faded away and was replaced with one of another city, this one with more fancier-looking buildings. Near the back of the city was a large clock tower. All of the buildings had orange-colored roofs and down in the streets were many alleyways. This image faded like the others before it, only to be replaced with another image, this one of a rolling green plain with a large lake that had waterfalls raining its wonderful content into it. On the green plain, there were many hillsides and loop-de-loop hillsides covering the area, along with large trees that stood tall over the flowers below.

**((Music stops))**

Merida smiled once she laid her eyes on the green hillside. "Ooooh, that one looks rather peaceful and nice. Relaxing even." Just then, a sudden thought hit her. "Wait... how am I supposed to come back here? Are you coming with me? What if I can't come back?" she said, starting to get a little worried. "Mom and dad will be so furious and worried."

"Child, hush," Mercilla said with a laugh. "I've already got a plan to keep your parents from even realizing you're gone. I'm going to take your place and be you until you get back."

"Oh. Well, show me you can be me. I _have _to make sure you're exactly like me or they will know something is up."

Mercilla nodded her head before waving her right hand into the air, which caused a black and red smoke to rise up from underneath her, enveloping her in seconds, which was how long it took for the smoke to clear up. Once the smoke was gone, another Merida was in Mercilla's spot.

"Wow," Merida said as she walked around the Mercilla version of herself, inspecting her closely. "You look exactly like me. I just hope you can act like me," she said with a laugh.

'Merida' laughed as well, sounding just like the real Merida. "Child, I've been your friend long enough to know how you act," she laughed.

"Oh really, then how do I act?"

"You can be very stubborn when it comes to your parents wanting you to be a princess, you're strong willed, have a never-say-die attitude, always helpful, and kind... most of the time."

Merida gave a small, cute little laugh. "Yep, that's me alright. Now that we've got the problem of how my parents won't know, how do we solve the problem of finding a way back home for me?"

"I'm sure the people of the future will have a means to transport you back into our time."

Merida thought about the answer for a few minutes before finally giving her answer. "Alright, I'm going to the future. I just want to say goodbye to Angus first before I go. I can't take him along or everyone would know I was missing, despite the fact that you're me. They would search for him and eventually find your little area."

Mercilla nodded her head and followed the red-haired princess outside. Merida walked over to her faithful horse, who was currently surprised by the fact that there were now two of his best friend coming out of the hut. "I'm going to go Angus, but I'll be back, I promise." Merida said as she hugged his neck and petted his mane. After the hug, Merida motioned for Mercilla to come over. "Mercilla is going to take my place until I come back so be nice to her, okay boy?"

Angus nodded his head, neighing softly as he watched the duplicate Merida approach him.

"Okay, I'm ready to go," Merida said with a hopeful sigh. '_I really hope this will be worth it. I just want to free my mind and take a break,' _she thought to herself.

**((Youtube: watch?v=Oge35i0UJ-M starts playing))**

Mercilla nodded and released another purple energy ball, this one having the image of the green hillside, but it was in a more forested area. Mercilla tossed the energy ball at her once the red-haired princess nodded. The ball enveloped Merida, completely sucking her into it.

**((Music stops))**

Angus neighed sadly, already missing her. Mercilla got on Angus' back and gently petted him. "She'll be back. Lets go back before her parents find out she's gone." Angus nodded his head and rode back into the town.

_Green Hill Zone, Forest Area_

A flash of bright light lit up a part of the shrouded forest before a medium-sized purple energy ball appeared, releasing Merida. The robed girl stumbled out of the energy portal, a little bit disorientated. Her travel here hadn't been enjoyable, so she hoped her time here would make up for it.

**(( watch?v=Pclo80VXCIE starts playing))**

Meanwhile, Sonic the Hedgehog, world-renowned hero, was running through a part of the Green Hill Forest. It was only about 5 months after he had teamed up with his past self and saved time and space from the white limbo world and he thought he deserved to have a little sight-seeing trip since he hadn't been to the forest in some time and wanted to see if anything had changed since his last visit. Suddenly, a loud sound made him stop in his tracks and look around for where it came from. "I wonder what that was?" he asked aloud, starting to run in the direction the sound came from.

**((Music pauses))**

As Merida's senses came back to her, she could finally see the surroundings around her, bringing marvel and wonder to her. "Wow, this place is so amazing. It looks almost like the forest at home, except the flowers aren't this big," she said as she touched a tall, yellow flower that was nearby. She started to walk forward, looking around at all the new sights.

**((Music continues))**

As Sonic got a little closer, a new sound entered his ears. It was the sound of a young female talking. "I wonder who that could be?" Sonic increased his speed and continued on his way, approaching the location by the second.

After walking around for a few moments, the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard, causing her to grab her bow and an arrow from behind her back. She quickly put the arrow in the bow and aimed it at the area the footsteps were coming from. As the footsteps got closer, her heartbeat got faster. "This is so not good," she muttered to herself. Suddenly, a blue, upright standing hedgehog burst out of the underbrush, causing her to fire the arrow straight at its head.

**((Music quickly changes to Youtube: watch?v=K3ZC-e265GU))**

Sonic narrowly avoided the arrow by quickly stepping to the side. "Woah!" he shouted before another arrow came at him, which he dodged by jumping over it. More arrows came at him, but they were coming from a red-headed girl with a bow.

"Stay away from me! I'm not going to let you hurt me!" Merida shouted, confused and scared by this weird creature that had just seemingly came out of nowhere.

Sonic continued dodging the arrows, either by side-stepping, leaping over them, or by sliding under them. "I'm not going to hurt you!" he shouted as he slid under an arrow before leaping over another one. As he approached a tree, he stopped and saw an arrow coming right for his head, so he ducked down, causing the arrow to plunge into the tree right where his head would have been. "Woah!" Sonic shouted again.

**((Music Stops))**

Merida lowered her bow and looked at the strange hedgehog with one eyebrow raised, suspiciously pondering if she should trust it. "How can I trust you?" she said, putting another arrow into her bow and lifting it back up to aim right at the creature.

"If you lower your bow, I won't attack you," Sonic said, starting to slowly walk over to her in a non-threatening manner, his arms showing the body motion of 'lower'.

Merida thought about this for a few seconds before sighing and lowering her weapon and took the arrow out, placing it right back into her arrow case. She watched as the blue hedgehog approached her, thinking she made the right choice of not hurting it. It had kept its word and hopefully won't attack her. As it got closer, she could now be able to get a closer look at it.

The hedgehog had peach colored skin on its mouth, inner ears, arms and a small section on its stomach. Its eyes were green and it had a medium-sized black nose which stuck outwards. It wore white gloves on its hands while on its feet were white socks with red shoes. The shoes had a single white stripe going horizontally across the shoe in the center. At the end of the stripe on each of its opposite sides was a single golden buckle. It was only about 3'3.

**((Youtube: watch?v=n709GAeE1To starts playing))**

As she looked at it, she started to smile out of amazement. "I've never seen anything like you before where I come from."

"Well where are you from?"

"DunBroch, it's a Scottish kingdom. I don't know if you'd have heard of it since it's in the past."

"No, I've heard of it."

"Oh, well, do you know where I am right now?"

"You're in Green Hill, well, the forest part of it anyways."

"Can you maybe... show me around?"

"Sure," Sonic replied before starting to walk forward. As he turned to look back to see if this human girl was going to follow her, he saw her walking by his side.

"So, what's your name, that is, if you have one?" Merida asked.

"I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. What's your name?"

"I'm Merida, but people call me Princess Merida, but I just prefer plain and simple, Merida."

"Oh. Tell me, how did you get all the way here if you're all the way from DunBroch?"

"An old sorceress-like woman transported me through time to this place in the future."

"You traveled through time?" Sonic asked, a little bit astonished. "I've done that a couple of times," he said with a smile and a laugh.

"I just hope there's a way for me to get back to my own time," Merida replied, a somewhat worried look on her face.

"Don't worry, I know someone who can get you back home," Sonic said. "Come on, lets go. I'll take you to him." He gently grabbed Merida's hand and started to increase his speed.

"Woah, woah," Merida said as she felt the increase in speed, struggling to keep pace with Sonic. "I don't think I can run that fast."

"Don't worry," he chuckled. "I won't go full speed. Hang on and we'll be out of this forest in no time." Like Sonic said, it wasn't long before they burst out of the forest and into the regular Green Hill.

Once they stopped, Merida gasped for air and fell to the ground. She was completely exhausted. Never before had she ran that fast before and she didn't want to do it again. It felt like her lungs were going to burst and she legs would fall off. As she laid on her back, she looked up at Sonic, still panting hard. "I... thought you... said you weren't... going to run at full speed?"

"I wasn't," Sonic simply replied, standing there without a drop of sweat on his body or a pant in his breathing.

"Can we walk for a little bit?" Merida asked, slowly getting back onto her feet. "I don't want to go running again, at least not until I can feel some sensation back in my legs."

"Um okay," Sonic said, and with that, they continued on their way. "So, why did you come here?"

"Well... my parent, who are the king and queen of DunBroch, want me to act more like a princess, since I am one and I don't act like one. It's mainly my mother who wants me to act like one. She keeps telling me she wants me to act like a lady and not how I usually act. She tells me about how some of the things I do, like archery," she motioned to her bow and arrow case, "are un-proper for me to be doing. I don't like being a princess, let alone act like one. They're all so preppy and snotty with those stupid dresses. Those things always ride up on me. I just like doing what I want to do."

"Hmm, this is the first time I've ever met a princess who didn't want the job," Sonic replied, reminiscing back to when he first met Blaze, when he saw Princess Elise at the Soleanna Festival, and Rapunzel when he was in Corona for a brief time, joining her for a dinner with her family.

"It's mainly cuz I'm independent... just not independent enough to get my mom and dad to see that I really don't want to act the way they want me to," she sighed as she looked at the ground.

"Hey, look, don't give up on what you want. Your parents need to know that it's your life and they can't control it forever. Plus, you need to at least take some responsibility in your role as a princess and you sometimes have to do things you don't want to when you're a princess."

Merida sighed. "I just wish sometimes I could change my fate."

"Why?" Sonic replied.

"If you could change your fate, would you?"

"Well, not really. I like running and being free... well, I would change the part about having to fight off robots all the time. Anyways, just remember, it doesn't matter how or what your parents want you to act like, it's how you want to act." Sonic stopped and got in front of her and began to sing.

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=xTke7eiWm7Q starts playing))**

_Well, I don't show off, don't criticize_

_I'm just livin' by my own feeling_

_And I won't give in, won't compromise_

_'Cuz I only have a steadfast heart of gold_

_I don't know why, I can't leave though it might be tough_

_But I ain't out of control, just livin' by my word._

_Don't ask me why, I don't need a reason_

_I got my way, my own way_

_It doesn't matter_

_Now what happens, I will never give up the fight_

_Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight_

_It doesn't matter who is wrong and who is right._

(Sonic starts running at a fixed past so that Merida can keep up with him, which she does, following right beside him, a small smile on her face as she continues to listen to his song)

_Well I don't look back, I don't need to_

_Time won't wait and I've got so much to do_

_Where do I stop now, it's all a blur and so unclear_

_Well, I don't know but I can't be wrong_

_It doesn't matter, now what happens, I will never give up the fight_

_Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight_

_It's all your bets on what you think is right_

(Sonic and Merida run over to a loop-de-loop hillside, which causes Sonic to grab her hand and increase his speed so that they run through the hillside perfectly. After they return to solid ground, he lets her hand go and they go back to running at a normal speed.)

_Oh, it doesn't matter, now what happens, I will never give up the fight_

_Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight_

_It doesn't matter who is wrong and who is right._

_No, no, no, no_

_It doesn't matter!_

Sonic and Merida continued on their way. Sonic had high hopes for Merida and hoped that she would learn to accept both sides, the side of being a princess and the side of her being who she wanted to be. He believed that she can be both, she just needed to prove that to her parents.

Merida was smiling from ear to ear after Sonic's motivational song. It had really helped her out in thinking about her choices. She still wanted her freedom and was now more determined to fight for it even more. Sonic sure was a good friend. Soon they began to approach a small settlement of sorts after not too long.

**((Music stops))**

* * *

End of Chapter 2

**A/C: **Yes, I just made Sonic sing _It Doesn't Matter_. The reason I had singing in this fan fic was because I thought it would be cool if Sonic and his friends would sing their own themes. Hope you continue reading as the story continues.


	4. Chapter 3:Being a Princess&The Adventure

Here's Chapter 3. It's broken into 2 halves, Mercilla's story and Merida's. Oh, so everyone doesn't get confused, when I say 'Merida' I'm meaning Mercilla because she's disguised as Merida.

* * *

_DunBroch_

'Merida' had made it back to the village, not knowing where or what to do. "Um, so... where do you belong Angus?" she asked.

Angus immediately started running over to the horse stables. Once there, he let 'Merida' get off and he went into his stall peacefully.

"Thank you," she replied before leaving the building. _Now, where can the castle be? It's been a long time since I last came here, so maybe it's been moved or something. I'll just check where I remember it was, _she thought. Luckily, the castle hadn't been moved. As she went inside, she passed two guards.

"Hello princess," said the first guard.

"Hello," she replied politely, entering her new home. As she went in, she marveled at the many furniture and the niceness of the room. _Sure is a whole lot nicer than my little hut, _'Merida' thought. Sitting on the couch were King Fergus and Queen Elinor. Not wanting to be in-polite, along with not knowing that the real Merida had been grounded, Mercilla walked over to them. "Hello mother, hello father," she said happily.

As soon as 'Merida's' voice entered the ears of Elinor, she sharply turned around. "Merida, what are you doing down here? Were you just outside? You're grounded! Now you're sneaking around like a thief. What am I going to do with you?"

Mercilla's mind started freaking out, which was really showing in 'Merida's' face._ Why didn't Merida tell me she was grounded? _she thought. "I um... was grounded?" 'Merida asked in a nervous/confused voice.

"Don't do that 'I-have-amnesia' thing with me young lady," Elinor said. Fergus now had gotten up and stood by his wife's side.

"Why did you sneak out and disobey us?" he asked.

"I um... I needed to go somewhere, and it was really important," 'Merida' replied.

"Well, that little trip just got you grounded for longer," Elinor said.

'Merida' sighed and nodded her head. "Fine."

"Now get yourself ready because it's about time for the suitor choosing," Elinor said. As 'Merida' walked up the stairs to her room, Elinor called out to her once again. "And Merida,"

_Now what? _Mercilla thought as 'Merida' turned around. "Yes?"

"Please don't put up a fuss this time," Elinor finished.

"I won't," 'Merida' grumbled as she went up the stairs, passing the triplets' room before entering Merida's room.

After a few moments, 'Merida came back down the stairs. She was now wearing a light turquoise dress with a white streak going down the middle of the dress. Covering up her red hair was a white hood, which matched up with her shoes. She sighed as she looked at the king, queen, and the triplets. "I'm ready."

"Good, now lets go," Fergus replied as they began to walk out of the castle, 'Merida' right behind. _Oh this is going to be _so _much fun, _Mercilla thought sarcastically.

* * *

_Green Hill Village_

**((Youtube: watch?v=wVggGiEz-5E starts playing))**

Sonic and Merida were still running, going past many trees and flowers. Merida was panting, getting a little rugged in her breathing. "How much longer 'til we get to where your friend is?"

"Not that long. It's just over this upcoming hillside," Sonic replied, still running at a fixed pace. His breathing was still normal, showing no signs of faltering.

A sigh was Merida's response, but she still ran up the hillside. "Can we walk when we get there?" she asked before reaching the top of the hill, seeing Sonic standing there, waiting for her.

"Sure, we're here." Sonic motioned to the large village that was down below in a small valley.

Merida looked down and was agape at the sight before her. She had never seen houses built in the style these ones were in. Some of the houses were wooden while some were built into some of the hillsides. The streets were made of orangish-gold bricks with some brown ones, making a sort of pattern. Many humanoid-like animals walked around on the streets, amazing Merida that there were more things like Sonic. "Wow, I never knew there were more creatures like you."

"Yeah, but hardly any of 'em are as fast as I am," Sonic replied. He grabbed her hand and led her into his home town.

Merida walked alongside Sonic, looking at all the homes and creatures along the way. "So where exactly does your friend live?" she asked.

"Not that far. It's sort of like a small airplane hanger mixed with a workshop," Sonic replied.

"Airplane?"

"Whoops, sorry. I forgot you're not from this time."

"Um, it's alright."

Not too long, they finally reached a large building sitting a top of a large hillside. This one looked different than the ones Merida had seen before. Instead of a wooden structure, this one had a metallic one. As the two reached the front, Merida saw that the hillside actually lengthened out into a plain. On the plain was a neat, long strip of runway which continued outwards, stopping at the edge of a cliff that had a large valley below it.

**((Music fades away))**

"Some place your friend has," Merida said, looking all over it as they walked up to a door.

"Yeah, Tails is an inventor so he needs a big workshop," Sonic said, knocking on the door. "Tails, you home buddy?"

Merida gave Sonic a weird/confused look. "Tails?"

Before Sonic could answer, the door opened and standing before them was a yellow-furred fox with two tails holding a wrench.

The yellow fox was smaller than Sonic, Merida guessed his height to be around 2'7. The tips of his tails, his stomach and the fur on his mouth were white in color, while his eyes were sky blue and his small nose black. Three strands of hair hung outwards from his forehead, giving off a cute-little-kid feeling to Merida. Like Sonic, the fox wore white gloves and socks, and had on shoes, but the socks and gloves had a small, black band that secured them. His shoes were red and white, but the front half was white and the back half was red.

"Hi Sonic. I was just working on the Tornado," the fox said before noticing the human standing beside him. "Who is that?"

"Tails, this is Merida," Sonic answered.

The fox stuck out his hand politely. "Nice to meet you Merida."

Merida took his hand and shook it, still in disbelief that these creatures acted so much like humans. "Same here."

"Well, come on inside," Tails replied before moving aside, allowing Sonic and Merida to enter.

Merida looked around at the inside of Tails' building, which looked somewhat similar to some workshops she had been in in DunBroch, but none of them had this much technology as Tails' had. "You've got quite a workspace here, don't ya?"

Tails nodded before sitting down on one of his work stools. "Yeah. I love inventing things, like my Miles Electric." He quickly got the multi-purpose machine out, showing it to her.

Merida reached out and touched the screen, amazed by this device. "I've never seen anything like this before in my entire life." She brought her focus back onto Tails. "What does it do?"

"Well, it can track objects using radar, scan many things, hold information, relay satellite footage—"

"Tails, before you go on and continue your sales-pitch, we have some questions for you," Sonic said.

"As do I, and I'm not trying to sell it." Tails turned back to Merida. "Where did you come from? I've never seen you before."

"Well, I'm from DunBroch, well DunBroch in the past."

"Oh. Well, how did you get here?"

"My friend Mercilla brought me here. She's a wise old woman, as well as a sorceress. She showed me images of this future world and... she brought me here."

"Incredible. Do you have anyway of getting back?"

"Well, Sonic said that you might have a way of getting me back."

Tails glanced at Sonic before glancing back at Merida. "Yeah. I have one way that would work...possibly, I mean, it's only just a theory I have, so don't get your hopes up that it'll work."

"Oh, um okay...," Merida replied. She sighed a little, somewhat homesick. As she thought of home, the thoughts of her mother and father pressuring her into acting like a princess entered her mind, continuously wracking her brain. _I know I already asked Sonic this and he gave me a good answer, but maybe Tails could help me too. _Merida looked at Tails, seeing the twin-tailed fox was getting up. "I came here because I sorta have a problem."

Tails stopped in his tracks and turned back to her. "What's that?"

"Well, I'm a princess, well one who doesn't want to act or be like one. My parents want me to act like one. They, my mom in general, try to force and pressure me. Mom wants me to be just like her, but I want to be myself."

Tails nodded his head in an understanding manner. "I know what it's like to be pressured into something. A long time ago, I met Sonic and I wanted to be just like him so badly, so I pushed myself really hard, but found out that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't be like him. I started to be myself, accepting who I was, and was no longer afraid of who I'd turn out to be." Tails smiled a little and started to sing as he sat back down.

**((Youtube: watch?v=TBNq1jZOuRg starts playing))**

_When all alone in my chair, I just go about wishing_

_Wanna be strong, really wanna be trusted a lot_

_When all alone in my bed, I just go about yearning_

_Wanna be cool, I also wanna be like him._

_But that's not something I can do so easily._

_This is not simply my way, my own style_

_Gotta get a hold of my life._

_I wanna fly high. _(Tails stands up and walks to the center of the room)

_So I can reach the highest of all the heavens_

_Somebody will be..._

_Waiting for me, so_

_I've got to fly higher._

_When all alone in my sleep, I just go about dreaming_

_I see myself having the same adventures_

_If I just follow you, I will never see the light_

_Now is the time to find my way through this life_

_Trying so hard to be strong._

_I've got to keep going_

_Everything is a brand new challenge for me_

_And I will believe_

_Believe in myself_

_This is the only way for me._

(Tails uses his twin tails to fly up into the air by spinning them around like a rotor. Merida smiles at this, watching with amazement while Sonic watches, smiling as well. Tails flies around the room for a few minutes, doing some aerial acrobatics before landing.)

_Many friends help me out, in return I help them_

_Certain things I can do_

_And there are things that only I can do_

_No one's alone_

_I wanna fly high _

_So I can reach the highest of all the heavens_

_Somebody will be_

_Waiting for me, so_

_I've got to fly higher._

**((Music stops))**

After the song, Merida smiled. "You're right, you're both right. I can't just show how I want things through just my actions. I've got to tell them more thoroughly."

"Yeah. Living the life that you don't want to live isn't fun, even if you want to live the life of someone you admire," Tails replied. The small fox walked over to a nearby door, standing there. "Well come on, lets go get Merida back to her time."

Merida and Sonic followed Tails into the room, winding up in a large hanger. Inside was a large airplane, a bi-plane to be specific.

**((Youtube: watch?v=y1W41X2jrng starts playing))**

The bi-plane was a vintage one-seater that was colored red with yellow stripes on the wings and tail fins. On the top wings and tail wings were Tails' emblem, which were basically just an image of his twin tails. On the back of the plane was a stand for a person to hold onto.

"Wow, what is that?"Merida asked, looking at the bi-plane. Like all the other objects she'd seen before, she had no idea what this thing was. _This is a world full of amazing things. I'm lucky I'm able to experience it because I probably won't live long enough to be here in my life, _she thought.

Tails flew up to the cockpit and got inside it, starting up the plane once his Miles Electric was inserted into the right spot. Sonic ran over to one of the wings and jumped up, landing on the plane before doing a well-placed back flip, landing right in front of the stand.

Merida looked at the bi-plane once again, searching for another seat or stand, which she didn't find. "Um, where do I sit?"

"You'll have to hold onto one of the wings. I'm sorry but this plane has only one seat and one stand. You can use one of your arrows with a rope attached to secure yourself," Tails replied.

"Oh... um okay." Merida was really nervous about this. Even though she didn't really know what a bi-plane could do, but she had a pretty good idea of what the thing it could do was. She found some rope and tied one end around her waist and the other end securely on the arrow. After climbing up onto the left top wing, she put the arrow in her bow and fired it into the wing. "Okay, I'm ready." She looked at Tails, very nervous. "You sure this is okay for me to do?"

"Don't worry Merida, I've ridden on that wing tons of times, without a tether, and I'm still alright," Sonic replied.

Merida nodded, kneeling down and grabbing hold of the wing tightly. She had to do this for herself and for her own courage.

"Everyone ready?" Tails asked.

"Yep," Sonic replied.

"Yeah," Merida said, still a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"Okay. Tornado engage," Tails said, pressing the start up button. The plane's engine started and the hanger doors opened up as the Tornado started movie towards the exit.

As the Tornado flew off the cliff, Merida's eyes were shut tightly as her and her new friends flew over the upcoming ocean.

**((Music stops))**

* * *

End of Chapter 3

**A/C: **Lol, now that I've actually thought about the final part, Sonic sure does seem irresponsible in letting Merida riding on the wing. XD Poor red-headed cutie. Anyways, we'll see where she goes in the next chapter so stay tuned.


	5. Chapter 4:Choosing a Prince&Angel Island

Here's Chapter 4. Oh man I will probably get scolded by Brave fans for the suitor choosing, but just remember, that's Mercilla disguised as Merida, not the actual Merida.

* * *

_DunBroch, Royal Grounds_

'Merida' and her family walked into the main seating area of the royal seating arrangement. Gathered around was everyone in the kingdom. They had come back to see Merida choose her prince... hopefully.

Every time the prince choosing event was held, it ended the same way: Merida not choosing a prince and the villagers leaving in dissatisfaction. She needed to choose a prince, which was what all of them thought.

'Merida' sighed as she took her seat. '_Lets get this thing started with,' _Mercilla thought. 'Merida' looked to Fergus, sighing before she nodded her head, signaling she was ready.

Fergus stood up and got everyone's attention, which he accomplished by shouting "hey" loudly. "Princess Merida will no choose her prince. I'm sure she's ready to do it this time," he said, looking at the annoyed faces on the townspeople. "Would the three Lords please step forward to present their choices?"

As Fergus took his seat, MacGuffin, Macintosh, and Dingwall approached the front, each shoving one another so that one would reach Merida before the others. Dingwall was the first to reach her.

"Princess Merida, I hope you would give my village the honor of marrying our prince. Step forward, Wee Dingwall."

A huge, strong and muscular-looking man stepped forward, causing 'Merida' to look up, an impressed look on her face. '_Well, well, well, this is one hunky man,' _she thought.

Fergus exchanged amazed looks with his wife.

Elinor whispered to 'Merida.' "Looks like you found your prince."

The muscular man stopped walking and stepped aside, letting a small, scrawny-looking teenage step forward, approaching Lord MacGuffin.

At the sight of the true Wee Dingwall, 'Merida' facepalmed herself, slinking down in her seat. _Of course, _she thought.

Elinor, slightly embarrassed by what she had told her daughter, whispered back to her daughter. "Um, you better see the other choices first."

Wee had dirty-blond hair which stuck up into the air and a somewhat big nose with an overbite. He wore a square-striped green and brown sash and kilt with what looked like a fanny pack in front of his waist.

"My son has slayed many an evil beast and saved our village from an armada of soldiers," MacGuffin said, trying to get 'Merida' interested in his choice.

'Merida' sighed, rolling her eyes while no one was watching. '_Sure he did. I'm pretty sure I can beat him up in a fight, without using any magic, in my real body,' _Mercilla thought.

"Show her what you can do boy!" Dingwall said proudly. He motioned for someone to bring a stuffed humanoid, which was placed in front of Wee. At the snap of Dingwall's fingers, Wee leaped at the stuffed person, biting and ripping into it with his teeth.

"Um, sorry but, next," 'Merida' said, a freaked-out look on her face. _Holy crap..._ she thought to herself. She looked over to Fergus and Elinor, seeing they too had stunned looks on their faces after what they had just witnessed.

Dingwall sighed as he and Wee walked back into the crowd.

MacGuffin laughed as he watched Dingwall and his son walk back into the crowd before walking forward himself. "Better luck next time old timer." As he and his son got closer, 'Merida' got a look at him. Young MacGuffin was overweight with brownish-blond hair, along with a big chin. He wore an armored vest under his green and brown square-covered sash and kilt.

"I am proud to introduce you to Young MacGuffin. He is a powerful fighter, able to lift more than he weighs over his—" began MacGuffin, but 'Merida's' voice interrupted him.

"Um, I'm sorry, but no thanks. Next," 'Merida' replied, yet another look of sorrow on her face. She didn't like rejecting them, even though they were unappealing to her.

Elinor leaned over to whisper to her daughter once again. "Come on Merida, make up you mind already. I know these choices aren't the best, but this has gone on for too long."

"I'll choose whichever one I see fit. This is my decision, not yours," 'Merida' whispered back, a little frustrated. '_No wonder Merida wanted to get away from all this,' _she thought.

Elinor said nothing back as she returned to looking back at the crowd before her. '_She is so stubborn sometimes. I swear, I'll probably have to choose her prince if she doesn't do it,' _she thought angrily.

Lord Macintosh smiled as the last of his competition was sent back to the crowd. Now he had a surefire chance of getting Merida to marry his son. As he walked up to the front, a confident look stretched out on his face, "I am sure my son has this competition in the bag and is the best choice for our fair Princess Merida. Now, meet Young Macintosh."

Young Macintosh took a step forward, causing 'Merida's' face to light up with excitement and joy. '_Wow, he is good-looking,' _Mercilla thought as he came forward. He was somewhat skinny with a slightly handsome face with a big nose. He had medium brown hair and blue eyes that shone like a sparkling lake. He had on a red and green sash and kilt.

"My son, like Dingwall's loser, I mean son," began Macintosh, but was forcibly interrupted by Dingwall shouting out an angered "hey!" Macintosh rolled his eyes and continued speaking, "has also saved our village from foul beasts and evil men, which is more believable than what any of the others can—" but this time it was 'Merida' who interrupted. "Him. I want him as my prince," she said with excitement, pointing at Young Macintosh.

Young Macintosh smiled proudly, turning back to the other princes and smirked smugly at them, showing them his dominance before walking over to 'Merida.' Macintosh smiled happily, proud that his son had been selected, as Young Macintosh gently kissed her held-out hand. "I am pleased to be your suitor my lady."

'Merida' giggled, blushing bright red as this all occurred. "The honor was all mine."

"She has made her decision!" Fergus shouted happily, almost surprised to hear his daughter choose a prince. As the crowd erupted into claps, the other two lords clapped as well, but only in a mock-happiness. They were angered that while Macintosh's choice was chosen right off the bat, their choices had been brushed off quickly.

"The celebration will commence at the royal ball later tonight," Fergus concluded before heading down from his seat and over to Macintosh. There was much to be discussed about, like when the wedding would be and how good the pairing up was.

Elinor smiled at her daughter, giving her a hug. "I'm so happy that you chose a suitor."

"I just uh, was waiting for the right one," 'Merida' replied.

"Go talk to your prince hunny."

'Merida' nodded, hurriedly rushing down to her prince, eyes wide in happiness. Once she reached him, a small, nervous smile appeared on her face. "Hi."

"Hey," the soon-to-be-prince replied.

"So um... you wanna go for a walk or something? We could look at things or talk."

"Alright," he replied before taking her hand and began their walk towards the castle.

'_This is going to be a good day for me,' _Mercilla thought. 'Merida' removed her little hood, letting her curly, red hair flop out as Young Macintosh and her walked onto the pathway that led to one of the villages.

* * *

_Ocean Way, 50 miles from Green Hill Village_

The Tornado was flying at a steady pace over the Ocean Way. It was a lovely afternoon day, which was showing in the sparkling ocean down below. Tails was flying the plane happily, Sonic watched the scenery go by from above and below the plane, admiring it's beauty, and Merida... well she had her eyes closed tightly, not wanting to see the ocean below. She wasn't that big a fan of heights and the fact that she was this high up off the ground made her extremely nervous. "How did I get convinced to do this?" she asked in a mutter, holding onto the plane wing for dear life.

Sonic took a glancing look at her, feeling bad for her because of her fear, as well as the fact that she couldn't see this amazing sight. "Merida, don't be afraid. Nothing bad is going to happen to you and if something does, we'll get you. Trust me, you're in safe hands."

"I-I trust you, but I can't do it."

"Don't you want to see the wonderful scenery?"

**((Youtube: watch?v=zWTgqUrvGp0 starts playing))**

She sighed and slowly nodded her head. "I do." After a few seconds of thinking, she finally said: "Alright, I'll do it." She slowly opened her eyes and looked around upwards, seeing puffy white clouds fly by. A smile broke out on her face before some amused giggles followed. She moved her head downwards slowly, so that she wouldn't be startled by how high up they were. "Come on Merida, you can do this," she said to herself silently as her head moved down, finally seeing the ocean below. Her heartbeat increased a little, but her smile returned. "Wow, everything looks so wonderful from up here," she said as she saw some fishes leap out of the water. She slowly stood up, but was buffeted back a little by the winds, so she quickly yelped before kneeling down to hold on. Her smile returned as she looked around. "Thank you once again Sonic."

"Hey, no problem," he replied, smiling back at her.

While Merida watched a flock of seagulls fly by them, the sun's warming rays heated her up nice, which caused her to start singing due to the pleasure.

**((Music Stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=8J6X49WtLag starts playing))**

_Can you see?_

_The sun is shinnin' on me_

_It makes me feel so free,_

_So alive!_

_It makes me wanna survive!_

_And the sky_

_It makes me feel so high_

_The bad times pass me by_

_'Cuz today_

_Is gonna be a brighter day!_

_Can you feel the sunshine?_

_Does it brighten up your day?_

_Don't you feel that sometimes_

_You just need to run away?_

_Reach out for the sunshine_

_Forget about the rain_

_Just think about the good times_

_And they will come back again_

_Feel the sunshine..._

_Without you_

_There's nothing for me to do_

_Can you feel the sunshine, too?_

_It's comin' through;_

_It makes me feel brand new_

_When you're here,_

_I wish you were always near_

_'Cuz everything is so clear_

_And today_

_Is gonna be a brighter day_

_Can you feel the sunshine?_

_Does it brighten up your day?_

_Don't you feel that sometimes_

_You just need to run away?_

_Reach out for the sunshine_

_Forget about the rain_

_Just think about the good times_

_And they will come back again_

_When the sun goes down_

_I feel like I am waiting_

_For another day_

_When the clouds go away_

_Can you feel it?_

_Can you feel it?_

_Can you feel the sunshine?_

_Does it brighten up your day?_

_Don't you feel that sometimes_

_You just need to run away?_

_Reach out for the sunshine_

_Forget about the rain_

_Just think about the good times_

_And they will come back again_

_Woah -oh-oh-oh..._

_Brighten up your day..._

_You just need to run away..._

_Reach out, you gotta reach out..._

_Come back again..._

_You gotta reach out..._

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=X-KcMMChmKs starts playing))**

The Tornado continued flying over the ocean. A few hours later, the sun was starting to set, but in the horizon was what appeared to be a small, floating island. Merida looked at it with puzzlement. The islands she had seen never floated. "Do all of your islands in the future float in the air?"

"No, this island is the only one of its kind in terms of levitation ability," stated Tails. "There is a giant emerald that's named the Master Emerald. That emerald's power is what keeps the island a float in the air."

"Does the island have a name?"

"It's called Angel Island."

The small biplane flew closer and closer to the large island, seeing it's vast tropical jungle expanse and the large mountains that dwarfed over them. Water ran down its sides and spilled back into the ocean, making Merida wonder why that place wasn't bone dry. The biplane flew over the island in banking maneuvers while Tails searched for a good place to land.

**((Music stops))**

_Angel Island, Jungle Interior_

**((Youtube: watch?v=pceDuaWAIoo starts playing))**

Sonic led the way through the rough jungle as Tails and Merida followed. The trip wasn't that difficult for the Sonic and Tails because they had been to Angel Island multiple times and they basically knew what was coming and what to expect. Merida wasn't having that much luck. She tried to keep up with them, but wherever she went, all she saw was jungle, jungle and more jungle. It had been that way ever since Tails found a place to land his plane.

Thankfully for Merida, it wasn't that long before they came out onto a mountainside that had a small path leading into a small valley below. What got her attention was what was in the valley. An ancient ruin lay before them. It was partially destroyed, many of the ruin buildings looking like they had been through some rough events. Stones lay all around in various places. In the center of it all was a medium-sized shrine that didn't look too bad damage-wise.

**((Music stops))**

"I'm guessing this is probably the place where that Master Emerald thing is," Merida said, still looking upon the ruins, trying to picture what this place must have looked like before it fell under such destruction.

"Yep, and it's also where our friend Knuckles is," Sonic replied. "We're too high up to just simply jump down so we have to take the mountain path." He led the way to the path and they began to descend.

Once at the ground and on their way into the ruins, Merida looked at the fallen structures more closely. In her head, she hoped that she could get back home. She had a fun time here and got some good advice, but she thought it was time for her to return to DunBroch, in her correct time of course. '_It's probably best if I did go back, even though there's more things that I want to see,' _she thought.

As the group approached the shrine, a red figure could be seen sleeping on the stairway that led up to the building. "Who is that?" Merida asked.

"Knuckles, sleeping on the job once again," Sonic said with a chuckle. Sonic brought his right hand up to his face and cupped it. "Hey Knuckles! Wake up!"

A few moments passed, but the red figure called Knuckles didn't move, causing Sonic to shout even louder to him, this time cupping both of his hands to his face. "HEY KNUCKLES!"

Knuckles was having a very peaceful dream, but it was shattered all around him when a shout of his name entered his ears, waking him up. "Whatthe?" he shouted in surprise, almost falling out of his sleeping spot. He managed to catch himself before he rolled down the stairs and got up, looking around to see who called him. "Who is it?" he yelled sleepily. Once he heard "it's me" being shouted back, he knew who it was. '_What does Sonic want?' _he asked himself before walking down the stairs. As he got closer, he saw Sonic and Tails, along with some girl he'd never seen before. '_Who could that girl be?'_ he wondered. "What is it?" he asked as he got closer to them.

"We need your help with something," Sonic replied.

Merida looked at Knuckles. "So... you're Knuckles?"

"Yep," the red echidna replied with a smirk on his face. Knuckles had a peach-colored mouth which had a medium-length black nose. He wore white gloves like Sonic and Tails, but he had green shoe cuffs. His knuckles had two spikes jutting out from them, which is where he got his name from. A white upwards-horizontal crescent was on his chest. His eyes were violet in color and his shoes were red and yellow. He was only about 3'7 in height.

Before Merida could ask what he was smirking about, he began to sing.

**((Youtube: watch?v=s5m6jECHFU8))**

_Here I come, rougher than the rest of them_

_The best of them, tougher than leather_

_You can call me Knuckles, unlike Sonic I don't chuckle _(Knuckles points to Sonic, which causes the blue hedgehog to sigh in annoyance at Knuckles singing this.)

_I'd rather flex my muscles. _(Knuckles flexes his muscles.)

_I'm hard as nails, it ain't hard to tell_

_I break 'em down whether they're solid or frail _(Knuckles starts punching the air aggressively.)

_Unlike the rest I'm independent since my first breath_

_First test, feel the right, than the worst's left_

_Born on an island in the heavens_

_The blood of my ancestors flows inside me _(Knuckles puts his hands on his chest.)

_My duty is to save the flower_

_From evil deterioration_

_I will be the one to set your heart free, true_

_Cleanse yourself of the evil spirits that's in you_

_Streaking lights, loud sounds and instincts_

_Are the elements that keep me going_

_I am fighting my own mission_

_Nothing's gonna stand in my way_

_I will be the one to set your heart free, true_

_Cleanse yourself of the evil spirits that's in you_

_Won't be frightened, I'll stand up to all the pain and turmoil _(Knuckles clenches his fists in determination as he looks up at the sky.)

_Just believe in myself, won't rely on others_

_Get this power to wipe out the havoc and anarchy_

_This is my planet, gonna fight for my destiny._

_I have no such things as weak spots_

_Hit me hard and I'll hit ya back_

_That's how I roll, nothin's gonna change that_

_This is my planet, gonna fight_

_Won't be frightened, I'll stand up to all the pain and turmoil_

_Just believe in myself, won't rely on others_

_Freedom will be waiting when serenity is restored_

_This is my planet, I shall not surrender_

_The new echidna on the block with the buff chest_

_In the wilderness with the ruggedness_

_Knock, knock it's Knuckles, the blow thrower_

_Independent flower, Master Emerald holder_

_I'll give you the coldest shoulder_

_My spikes go through boulders_

_That's why I stay a loner_

_I was born by myself, I don't need a posse_

_I get it on by myself, advisories get shelved._

**((Music stops))**

Merida simply stared at Knuckles, wondering how much bravado this creature had for himself. "Um... okay."

Knuckles nodded. "Anyways, what is it you need?"

"Well, this is our new friend, Merida," Sonic said, motioning to the red-haired girl. "She's a princess."

This statement caused Knuckles to burst out in laughter. "_She's _a princess? She looks more like an outdoors archer. A very poor-looking one at the most."

"Hey!" said Merida, a slightly outraged look on her face as she spoke. "I'm a pretty good archer. You on the other don't look like you could break a rock, much less a boulder."

"Um Merida, you don't wanna do th—" Sonic began, but it was too late to stop what was coming up next.

"_OH? _You think you're so great? Lets settle this here and now!" Knuckles marched over to a large set of fallen ruin blocks, mumbling about how this Merida chick wasn't going to insult him in that way.

Sonic sighed and facepalmed his face. "Too late."

"Here, lets see you can break this," shouted Knuckles.

"I'm sure I can with just my bow and one arrow, but I'm not to sure if you can break it with those puny little muscles of yours."

"My muscles may look like that, but in strength, they're more stronger than your lame come backs."

Merida simply rolled her eyes at this and stuck out her tongue, which only caused Knuckles to get even madder.

"Red heads sure are hot heads," he said, glaring at her angrily.

Merida growled at this remark and quickly shot back with: "Takes one to know one."

"That is it!" Knuckles approached the first of the two ruin blocks and looked straight at Merida. "This outta shut that mouth of yours," he said before swinging his fist, punching the block with all of his strength. The impact shattered the block, sending many tiny pieces of it flying off in every direction, causing Sonic, Tails and Merida to shield their bodies to avoid getting hit.

Once it was safe, they all looked, seeing a small pile of rubble where the block once stood. Merida looked at the small echidna with new respect for his strength. "Wow, maybe I shouldn't have insulted his size and muscles."

"Um, you think? I was trying to tell you not to start anything with him. He can be a hothead sometimes," Sonic replied.

Knuckles' gaze focused on Merida. "You're up next, princess."

Merida rolled her eyes once again at the echidna's comment as she walked over to him. She stopped once she was a safe distance if it shattered in all directions and began to study it. The block had cracks running along it, one going down the center. '_If I hit the right crack, then it would create more and...' _she began to think. She got her arrow and put it in the bow, aiming it at the block and shot it in the next second. The arrow struck the block, hitting the center of the stone.

After a few seconds passed, loud laughter could be heard coming from Knuckles, enjoying the failure that this "princess" put on for him. "You didn't even break it."

A few seconds passed and the rock started developing more and more cracks, causing everyone to turn their attention back to it. The block then split apart, falling into separate pieces. Merida turned to Knuckles, seeing a shocked look on his face, which caused a smirk to appear on her's, but before either could say anything, Sonic came over to both of them.

Sonic thought that this was enough and it was time to put a stop to this before it got any worse. "Alright, alright, you've both shown that you're skilled... as well as in breaking things, but now it's time to shake hands."

Merida and Knuckles both sighed, knowing Sonic was right. "Fine," they both said and turned to face each other. "You're pretty strong for your size," Merida said, smiling in an impressive manner as she shook Knuckles' hand. "Yeah, thanks. You aren't that bad of an archer," Knuckles replied, shaking back. "Well thank you," Merida replied.

"Now that you two knuckleheads have made up, can you help us solve the problem we have Knux?" Sonic asked.

"Sure, what's the problem?"

Tails gave that answer. "Merida came here from the past due to the help of a sorceress, but now she's stuck here in our time. I was wondering and hoping, for her sake, if the Master Emerald could teleport her back to her own time."

Knuckles thought about his answer for a few moments, thinking it over really carefully. Finally, he spoke. "I don't think so. The Master Emerald is only a receiver when it comes to teleportation. It's weird that she wasn't brought here... unless that sorceress person teleported her to a fixed location."

Merida sighed, looking at the ground sadly. "Oh, well, thanks for your help." She was saddened by this, now knowing that there was no way for her to ever return to her family or her home, making her even more homesick.

When Sonic saw Merida's sad face, he walked over and gently put a comforting hand on her shoulder, causing her to look at him. "Don't worry Merida, I know another way we can get you home."

The red-haired princess looked at Sonic with a small smile of excitement creeping on her face. "Really? You're sure?"

"Yeah, but that way is through a machine, and currently that machine is in Dr. Eggman's fortress," Sonic replied.

"Who's Dr. Eggman?"

"Dr. Eggman is an evil genius who has an army of robots under his disposal," stated Tails. "He wants to defeat Sonic and conquer the world so he can build his Eggman Land thing."

"Oh, what a horrible person," Merida replied, not liking this Eggman.

"Yeah, but the Eggster hasn't been around since my time traveling adventure with my past self," Sonic said. "I think that it'll be alright to go there. At least there wouldn't be any stupid robots to stop us."

"Alright, now lets go. I can't believe I'm saying this but... I want to really go home," Merida said.

As they started to leave, Merida, Sonic, and Tails said goodbye to Knuckles, who said goodbye back and returned to his sitting spot on the stairway, laying back in a relaxing way. When they returned to the Tornado and got themselves ready, they flew back into the air, heading away from Angel Island.

"Why didn't Knuckles come with us?" Merida asked Tails.

"Knuckles is the guardian of the Master Emerald and the protector of Angel Island. He has to stay here to protect the Master Emerald from whatever danger could threaten it," Tails replied. "If something happens to that emerald, Angel Island will fall into the ocean."

"Well, at least he's doing his job," Merida replied as the plane flew into the sunset.

As Knuckles slept on the stairway, he started thinking if he made the right choice to just stay here and let his friends go to Eggman's fortress alone. '_I'm sure they'll be okay, and Eggman hasn't been seen in months and probably has no chance of returning,' _he thought before shrugging it off and shifted his position. "I know they can handle this themselves," he muttered before returning to sleep.

* * *

End of Chapter 4

**A/C: **I hope you still want to read this story due to the fact it isn't following the plot of the movie. Like Merida's brothers and the kingdom's name, I also had to change the Lords' sons' names just for this website. The names were Prince Grimwall (Wee Dingwall), Prince Kramera (Young MacGuffin), and Prince Samuel (Young Macintosh) before I started uploading the story onto FanFic. In the next chapter, what will happen when Mercilla continues being Merida and we'll find out what Merida's little time-travel trip has done to the future. Stay tuned.


	6. Chapter 5:Ball Preparation & Future Time

Chapter 5 reveals an extra add-on to the plot starting to set in motion. Read-on to find out.

* * *

_DunBroch_

'_Oh this is the most fun I've had in a long time,' _was what Mercilla thought as 'Merida' and her new fiancee Young Macintosh walked through the town. It had been fun hanging out with him. Right after they left the Royal Grounds, he had led her to a nice little field and got her some flowers, which she was still carrying.

'_That trip on the lake was also fun. And really romantic,' _she continued thinking. After the flower gift, he took her to his village and got them in a boat and went out onto this amazing lake, which shimmered and sparkled in a beautiful way. Many of the woodland creatures were out on the banks, either watching them or getting small drinks of water while they talked.

'_If it wasn't for this stupid ball I would have had more time to spend with him, _she thought angrily. _Ah well, at least I get to see him there.' _Mercilla knew that it wasn't the true her that he loved, but as long as she felt loved, it didn't really matter.

The lovely couple were on their way back to the castle. Their day of enjoyment took up most of the afternoon, and as they walked, the sun was beginning to set. Young Macintosh led her to the front of the castle and smiled. "See you tonight my love." What he did next surprised her, which was kiss her lips, making 'Merida' blush bright red and make her wide-eyed. After a few seconds passed, her senses came back and her mind screamed,_ 'kiss him back you dummy!' _'Merida' did that, gently wrapping her arms around his waist. To her, their kiss lasted an eternity, but in real time, it was only half a minute long.

When Young Macintosh broke their kiss, both of them were blushing, which led to them giggling nervously, smiling as well. "Well, I'll see you later on tonight," 'Merida' said before quickly rushing off inside. Once she had left, he smiled, extremely happy with himself as he returned to his village.

'Merida' walked inside the castle, happy as ever, which Elinor, who was currently in the same room reading a book and relaxing peacefully, saw. "Someone had a fun time with a certain someone."

'Merida' laughed slightly at this. "Yep I did. When is the ball?"

"It's almost time to go, so get yourself ready," Elinor replied.

"Okay," 'Merida' replied, quickly moving up the stairs.

"Merida," Elinor said to her, causing 'Merida' to stop and turn back to her.

"Yeah?"

"Please tell me you won't do anything... rash, okay? Like try to rush things or disrupt anything at the ball."

"Mom, I'm not going to embarrass myself or anyone else there when I'm with Young Mac," 'Merida' said before heading to her room.

"Just making sure," Elinor said with a smile as she watched her daughter continue up the stairs. At that time, King Fergus had just entered the castle and saw both 'Merida' and his wife not yelling at each other, which was sort of a first, causing him to wonder what was up. He had just came back from his continued discussion with Lord Macintosh, which itself was about the wedding between his daughter and prince. "What's up? You usually aren't in a good mood when Merida is here."

"I'm not always unhappy when she's here, just when she was arguable. Besides, she's turning into quite the princess now, and we have Macintosh's son to thank."

"I told you that she would come around when she was ready," Fergus replied. "At least she'll make you proud now."

"To tell the truth, I'll kind of miss her acting the way she used to. She reminded me of myself when I was her age."

"Then why did you make her act like a princess when you knew she would eventually turn out like you?"

"Because, I don't want her to make the same mistakes I made. Do you not remember the incident with the dragon I told you about?"

"Elinor, she ain't going to sneak off into a cave," Fergus said with a chuckle, remembering his wife's somewhat thrilling story of peril and danger.

"I know, but... I want her to stay out of trouble and be well behaved."

"Then why don't you let her just be who she is meant to be?"

Elinor thought about this for a moment, but quickly changed the topic. "We need to get ready for the ball ourselves. Merida is already getting ready." Elinor went upstairs, leaving a somewhat puzzled Fergus behind, but he followed her upstairs after a few moments went by.

Upstairs, 'Merida' was looking through Merida's closet, trying to find a suitable dress. As she did that, her mind raced, thinking about what the real Merida would say and do to her. She would most definitely be outraged by the fact that she had gotten herself engaged and is now acting like a princess, but Mercilla had a reason for doing this. For a long time in her life, she had been a single woman. No one had ever looked at her as cute and no man had been as nice as Young Macintosh has been to her._ 'I am truly sorry for doing this to you Merida,' _she thought. Even though it was wrong of her to think this, she secretly hoped Merida never came back. Mercilla could get used to being her forever and ever. As she rummaged through the closet, she finally found the perfect dress.

Downstairs, Elinor and Fergus were waiting patiently for her to come down. Elinor was wearing a beautiful and elegant brown dress while Fergus had on his grand, red robe. Elinor wasn't as mad that Merida was running late, knowing instead of stalling the inevitable, she was truly getting ready. The triplets were with them, but they weren't coming. They weren't old enough, so watching them was their nursemaid, Maudie, who was waiting with the rest of the royal family.

When 'Merida' came down the stairs, she was wearing an elegant green dress, which ran down to her feet. Once she reached her family, Elinor smiled at her proudly.

"You look amazing hunny," she said.

"Young Macintosh is one lucky guy," Fergus replied.

"Thanks you two, now come on, lets go. We don't want to be late now do we?" 'Merida' replied, hurriedly pushing them out the door.

"Okay, okay," Elinor said, laughing. "Put Harris, Hubert and Hamish to bed by nine," Elinor managed to say to Maudie before 'Merida' dragged her out of the castle.

_DunBroch, The Far Distant Future_

**((Youtube: watch?v=XMdFVuxnIL0 starts playing))**

The area around DunBroch had changed massively. No longer surrounded by forest and nature, now it was a massive high-tech city covered in tall skyscrapers. In place of the forest were many factories and military bases. All over the place were transport tubes, used for transporting people all over the enormous kingdom. Along with the transport tubes, weapon placements covered the area. Missile launchers were used for defense if another country attacked the kingdom.

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=NMD1LQCfdwA starts playing))**

A sudden shift of movement caused some robotic guards to alert and start out a search for whatever could have moved. These robots were modeled after the old G.U.N. robots in the past, but they were vastly upgraded. As the robots go to investigate, a small hedgehog appeared in their spot in a flash.

**((Music stops))**

The hedgehog was about 3'3. Its fur was silver-white, as was its forehead crest of quills. The skin around its mouth and inside its ears were peach colored, its nose black and its eyes yellow. The crest on its forehead was made of five individual quills which stood upright in the shape of a leaf. On its chest was a white tuft of fur. It wore white gloves with cyan-colored markings which formed a small circle on its palm. Gold cuffs rested on its wrists and ankles, but were higher up above them than the gloves and boots. Its boots were indigo-colored down the middle to the teal tip and ontop of the boots were a red gem-like adornment. Enter Silver the Hedgehog.

Silver quickly ran along the path that the guard robots were guarding, making his approach to the DunBroch castle, which was basically the main operation area to the whole kingdom. _'I got to get to the castle. I have to complete my mission and return to base before I get myself killed,' _Silver thought to himself as he ran. Silver had an important mission to complete, which was to scope out the castle to find weak spots or any information that could help his allies.

As he approached the castle, which was still located in its original place when it was built a long, long time ago, he saw some more guard robots at the entrance. There were eight all together. The castle was essentially its same brick structure, but now there were gun emplacements on all of its sides and an automatic door replaced the pull-up moat door.

Once Silver saw the guard robots, he immediately ducked behind the closest shrub he could find and took a quick peak to see what his enemies were doing. His peak allowed him to see that these robots were about ready to fire at any opposition should it show itself. _'How am I going to get over there now?' _he thought to himself. Just then, close by, was a good-sized rock, which gave Silver a plan. He quickly grabbed the rock using his psychokinesis to levitate the rock into the air. Once he made sure no guard robots were looking in his direction, he launched the rock at one of the 'bot's heads before running off to a close by shrub bush.

The rock nailed the robot in the head, causing it to whip around side to side and all over to try and see where the rock came from. The robot aimed its arm guns at the shrubs and started firing them, getting the other robots' attentions. They all went over to the shrub to investigate, which luckily for Silver wasn't the one he was currently hiding behind.

Silver chuckled to himself in his mind before quickly running over to the entrance, trying to be as quiet as he could be, which was hard when he wore boots and was running._ 'Dumb robots.' _Unfortunately, he stepped on a fallen twig, causing it to make a loud snap and alert the robots to his presence.

**((Youtube: watch?v=WKkii1eD9pc starts playing))**

"Eliminate the intruder!" shouted the robots' group leader, which had on special markings on its chest that none of the others had. The leader started firing his arm guns at the hedgehog, with the others under its command following suite.

Silver quickly dodged the blasts and avoided some missiles that a group of missile launcher 'bots shot at him. Using his psychokinesis, he grabbed some of the approaching missiles and launched them back at the group, destroying a majority of the robots' forces, leaving the leader and one regular 'bot.

The lead robot quickly signaled for back up to arrive, and it did. The new guard robots flooded out of the castle's entrance gate and surrounded Silver.

The silver-white hedgehog looked all around him for an easy escape that would result in him still being alive, but none could be found. Guard robots surrounded him from all over, and even more were pouring out of the castle's entrance gate so now the mission was over. When he turned back to the front, he was greeted face-first with the lead guard robot's arm gun barrel.

**((Music stops))**

"Surrender or perish whelp," the robot commanded.

**((Youtube: watch?v=vuBx9KS2kwU starts playing))**

Silver slowly knelt onto the ground, which caused the robot to lower its gun, either in believing its captor was actually surrendering or making the gun follow his movements. Quick as can be, Silver slammed his right palm, rich in psychokinesis energy, onto the ground, which sent the energy surging through the ground. The energy immediately caused the robots to short circuit and simply stand there, now unable to move or do anything. Silver quickly got back on his feet and made a sweeping motion with both of his hands, using psychokinesis to knock the robots back into the horde that was currently swarming out of the entrance. With another burst of psychokinesis energy, he covered his body in it and shot forward at a much faster speed. His psychokinesis had granted him the ability to hover over the ground a couple feet and levitate at a much faster speed. _'Thank god for my psychokinesis. I probably wouldn't be alive if I didn't have it,' _he thought. '_At least it won't take me long to get back to HQ,' _he thought with a sigh. He wish his mission hadn't failed, but that thought was quickly broke by the sound of approaching guard robots. Silver turned around quickly and saw a whole gang of them coming after him, using their rocket boosters located on their backsides. '_Looks like I'm going to have to pull off a couple of slick moves if I'm going to get these guys off my back,' _Silver thought as he took off in another direction, which was opposite where he was originally going to go.

**((Music stops))**

_Europe Freedom Fighters HQ_

Silver had finally made it back from his mad chase with DunBroch's guard robots, managing to make them lose his trail. He was now back at the building the group that sent him secluded in, which was the Europe Freedom Fighters. This group was an organization made up of all the different people across all over Europe who were against the rule of DunBroch, wanting to bring back the freedom and peace they so righfully deserved to all of Europe.

Their HQ was worse for wears although, but the building was a run down and old one, which was like many of the other buildings in what would have been called London if Europe was a free country, but was now called Grimstone Well.

As Silver walked inside, he saw the same thing he always saw once he entered, but unlike the other times, the rooms looked trashed more than usual, which only meant one thing. _I' guess that some guard robots came in here and tore the place apart in their desperate search to find our base of operations,' _Silver thought as he continued down a long hallway which came out to a dead-end, or what appeared to be a dead-end. Silver gently knocked on the wall three times, causing a hidden control panel to flip out of the wall. After, quickly punching in the right access codes, a bigger part of the wall opened up, revealing a hidden elevator. Once he entered it, the elevator started going down, which was where the EFF's real base of operations was.

When the elevator's doors opened, Silver stepped into a high-tech base. People were all over the room, which was considerably large compared to most of the other rooms above it. Most of the people who were in here were refugees who were trying to get away undetected from DunBroch, but the others were the main force of the EFF. All around were computer consoles and large monitors, some had video monitoring the activity around the castle and all over the main area the kingdom sat on.

It didn't take him too long for him to be noticed by a small group of men, who quickly approached him. There were only five men in this group, the one who appeared to be in charge walked at the front. The man wore a sort of business suit while the others wore casual clothing. "Ah, Silver. Did you manage to infiltrate the castle?" the man in the business suit asked.

"I'm sorry, but I failed. I was detected and before I could stop the robots, more came and there were too many for me to handle, so I had to retreat," Silver replied.

"Are you sure none of them followed you? Some guard robots had came here earlier just after you left, trying to sniff us out. Thankfully they didn't find out our secret entrance."

"I made some extra runs and went in other directions to shake off the ones that were following me, and I made sure there weren't any still following when I came back here."

"Well, at least they won't have another reason to come search this building again." The man sighed. "It's a shame you had to retreat. We really needed some intel on what's going on in that castle. I wish something would happen or something we could do that could change this so it all wouldn't happen."

At that moment, an idea hit Silver, causing his eyes to light up in enthusiasm. "Stan, I got a great idea just now!"

"What is it my boy?"

"If we can go back in time, we can find out what causes this future to happen, along with stop it so none of this occurs."

"Ah! An excellent idea. We would have tried to do this before, but none of us had the means of equipment to build one. Currently, our inventors have gotten some very useful parts, and with those parts, they've managed to build a teleportation machine, but I think with just a small tweaks and modifications it can be reformatted into a time machine. Silver, you go look in our data hub to find out what caused this future while I go tell our inventors your plan," Stan said before going to find the inventors.

Silver walked over to a large computer console that was at the far-end of the room. There were many others like this machine, but they were much smaller when compared to this one. Silver began typing on its keypad, searching through the massive databanks that rested inside. "Hub, give me information that tells what happened in the past that causes DunBroch to be a tyrant nation."

The computer brings up a big clump of data onto the monitor screen. As Silver began to read the screen, he hoped whatever was in this would tell him what happened.

'Long ago in the 10th Century, the kingdom of DunBroch was ruled by King Fergus and Queen Elinor. The kingdom was made out of three smaller villages all built around the main castle, and all through those three villages, peace and tranquility was all over. But that all changed when their daughter, Princess Merida became power-hungry. In a desperate attempt for power, she comes up with a scheme that results in the death of both her parents and the three Lords of DunBroch. Merida ruled the kingdom with an iron fist, making invasion parties invade many of the others kingdoms in the surrounding areas. As her tyrannical family line ran through history, DunBroch's rule over others expanded outwards until all of Europe was controlled by the kingdom.'

Silver frowned at this, angered by the fact that this whole future was made just because of one selfish, spoiled princess, who had come from such a nice and kind family. "So, all I have to do is take out this Merida and our future will be changed, hopefully for the good. Now Hub, show me the location of Princess Merida before she became power-hungry." What appeared on the screen gave him a great surprise. "How is this possible? She's in two different times during the event!"

It was true. Princess Merida was in the 10th Century, but also in the time of Sonic the Hedgehog. "What could she be doing in Sonic's time?" he wondered aloud. Once he saw where she was, it all made sense to him. Her location was Dr. Eggman's base. _'This must mean that her scheme that killed the rulers was to go into the future and steal some of Eggman's weapons and use them. I don't know why she is showing in two different places at the same time though. Maybe it's because that was before she managed to somehow make it to Sonic's time and the computer's reading it as her appearing there being her in another time,' _Silver thought to himself.

Not that long afterwords, Stan came back, ready to give Silver the good news. "Okay Silver, everything is ready. Did you find out everything you need to know?"

"Plenty. I'm ready to go." Silver walked alongside Stan, reaching a large machine that was at the far end corner of the bottom side of the room. The machine was taller than the tallest human in the building, it almost touched the top of the ceiling. Silver walked to the front of it and typed in the necessary commands, setting the machine to take him to Dr. Eggman's base in Sonic's time, just as Merida enters it.

"Good luck Silver. May we still be friends after you hopefully fix the future," Stan said, smiling and waving goodbye to him.

"I hope so too, and thanks," Silver replied. The hedgehog got into the machine and shut the door. Lights flashed around outside, causing most of the people in the room to shield their eyes. A loud sound came from the machine, which ceased the amazing light show. When Stan opened the door, Silver was gone. "God speed to you Silver. Please let your mission be successful."

* * *

End of Chapter 5

**A/C: **Yes I know Silver's whole part in this story was like how it was in Sonic the Hedgehog 2006. How does 'Merida' (aka Mercilla) turn evil and become the start of DunBroch's descent into a tyranical kingdom? Find out next chapter. Stay tuned!


	7. Chapter 6:Corruption

Here's Chapter 6, enjoy.

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_DunBroch, Present Time, The Ball_

The ball was being held in the castle's grand ball room, which was located underneath the castle's main structure. Many of the townspeople were already in the castle, heading down to it just as 'Merida', Fergus and Elinor entered. Everyone there was properly dressed, the men in nice dress shirts and the women in fancy dresses.

'Merida' watched all of the people wander around and danced to the music being played by some of the bagpipers. Soon the entire kingdom would be down here. She looked around for her prince, hoping he was here among the ones that had already arrived.

The bagpipers on the stage, which was located near the front of the massive ballroom, were playing a slow song, which all of the couples in the kingdom were dancing to.

As 'Merida' searched for her prince, Fergus saw her do this and softly put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to turn to him. "He'll find you soon, now come on and mingle. Have some fun."

'Merida' nodded her head and waited for the slow song to end. Once it did, she walked out onto the dance floor and danced by herself for a little while._ 'I hope I can still do some of my moves I had in my youth,' _Mercilla thought to herself. She managed to make 'Merida' do some impressive dance moves, causing some of the people there to stop dancing and watch her, "ooing" and "ahhing" at her moves. _I still got it, _she thought with a smile.

After the song changed, 'Merida' went off the dance floor and over to where the food and drinks were.

Fergus and Elinor were talking to one another at the time, and on occasion, danced a little bit. After the song they were currently dancing to, they were approached by both Lord Dingwall and Samuel, the young prince right by the lord's side. "Hello Macintosh," Fergus said. "Young Mac, I think Merida is over by the food."

"Thanks my king," Young Macintosh said before going over to where his beloved fiancee was.

"We still haven't discussed the day of the wedding," Macintosh said once his son was gone.

"Oh, yes. Why don't we continue that somewhere a bit more quieter," Fergus replied.

The lord nodded his head and followed Fergus up the stairs and back up to the castle's main floor.

Elinor watched this and sighed, going back over to the dance floor, close to where the food was. She wished her husband wasn't always busy with all of his duties. Tonight was supposed to be their "off" night and she was hoping it would be that way, but she was wrong.

'Merida' was eating some of the food and drinks that was offered, enjoying them. '_These aren't half bad,' _Mercilla thought as she continued eating. She wasn't pigging out or anything, just normally eating. As she drunk some of the water that was in her cup, she didn't notice Young Macintosh approaching her, quiet as can be. He continued sneaking up on her and after waiting for 'Merida' to put down her stuff, he gave her a loving hug from behind. "Hi there!"

'Merida' jumped a little, taken by surprise from the sneak-attack hug she had just received. "What the–?" she said before turning around, seeing him. "Mac, you startled me!" she said, shoving him playfully as she laughed.

"Sorry, just wanted to see your reaction."

"Glad to see you're here," she said as she hugged him tightly. "I didn't know if I'd find you here among all these people."

"I wouldn't miss the chance to see you again for the world."

A nervous smile soon appeared on 'Merida's' face, not knowing what the outcome of the question she was about to ask him would be. "Um, do you wanna dance?"

"Sure." He grabbed her arm and gently pulled her back to the dance floor and they began dancing to the somewhat fast-paced song the bagpipers were currently playing. The young couple pulled off some amazing duet moves, getting the attention of the people there once again.

Elinor watched as her daughter, happy as can be, dance with her new soon-to-be-prince. The queen was very happy that her daughter had finally made the transition to being a princess. '_Still, I don't know why she changed so quickly. One moment, she's difficult and hard to convince, the next, she's acting very obedient, eager to be act like what she didn't want to be before,' _she thought to herself. '_Ah well, maybe I'm just overreacting. At least she's finally at peace with her duty.' _Elinor sighed a little and walked over the food and got herself a little bite to eat.

The song ended and a slow song started playing, which caused 'Merida' and him to start slow dancing, holding each other close. As they held each other, they softly talked.

"You look absolutely amazing tonight," he said.

'Merida' smiled. "Thank you. You look nice too. You always look nice." She laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes. As she and him continued, he gently rubbed her back, making her feel even more relaxed and in comfort. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too."

As the happy couple danced, Elinor was getting many positive complements from many of the villagers at the dance who were noticing the love in the air coming from 'Merida' and Young Macintosh. As she talked with one of those people, King Fergus and Lord Macintosh had finally came back.

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" Fergus announced loudly, causing the whole band on stage to immediately stop the song and turn to look at him. Everyone else in the ballroom also looked to their king, wondering what he was going to say.

'Merida' looked at Fergus with a somewhat angered look which was mixed with surprise. She didn't like it that her and Young Macintosh's dance was interrupted, but it had to be something important._ 'This had better be good.'_

"The day of the wedding has been chosen!" Fergus said happily, causing many of the people to cheer in delight. Well, almost all of the people cheered. Lords Dingwall and MacGuffin were still sour about how 'Merida' had brushed off their princes without a thought. "Merida and Samuel will be married three days from now."

"She's going to have a good prince and probably be a grand ruler," said the woman who had been talking to Elinor.

That thought actually got 'Merida' thinking about what her future held in store for her if the real Merida wouldn't come back. '_I can't believe I've forgotten I'll be the next ruler once the King and Queen are dead. I really must have been having fun with Young Mac to forget about that. I'll be such a great one, a grand one like what that woman said. Everyone in the world will love me. I just wish I could rule right now. Hmmm, maybe there is a way. All I'll have to do is just make plans.' _She immediately then had another impacting thought hit her. '_Oh no, I'm becoming what I have tried to not be. I can't go back to acting like that. I just can't.' _Mercilla's mind then started reminiscing about what happened the last time she got the urge to rule DunBroch.

She used to live in DunBroch back when King Fergus was only a teenager. She had gotten an urge to rule right after she heard he was going to be the next king. She had gotten a plan and went into the forest when Fergus and some of his friends went hunting. Quickly, she followed the boys, and when Fergus got separated, she turned into her favored form, Mor'du the bear. She and Fergus eventually fought, which ended in Fergus losing one of his legs and getting away. Once Mercilla regained her senses and snapped out of the convoluted trance, she knew she could never ever go back to that kingdom, in fear of that urge rising up again. She lived in the forest ever since then. She made herself a small hut and lived undetected by anyone, until that fateful day when Merida came upon her.

As the night went on, 'Merida' had a good time with Young Macintosh, but at the same time, the intensely powerful and influencing thoughts of power, conquest, and the entire kingdom under her mighty rule swarmed around in her head, making it somewhat hard for her to concentrate on what she was doing. Soon, the ball came to an end and it was time for everyone to leave.

"Good night my love," Young Macintosh said to 'Merida,' softly kissing her hand. 'Merida' softly blushed and smiled at her love. "See you tomorrow." As everyone left the ball room, 'Merida' went back up to the main floor of the castle, heading up to her room.

'_These thoughts of rule are so influencing. They seem so right though. So right and so good. I' _have '_thought of some great and brilliant plans if I were to do this,' _Mercilla thought to herself. As she entered the hallway leading to her room, she made a quick look around to see if anyone was currently there. Seeing how no one was, 'Merida' entered her room and shut the door, but the force she used to shut it wasn't enough to make the door close completely.

In the triplets' room, they were in bed, sleeping somewhat peacefully. Maudie had put them to bed at the right time and was downstairs, probably talking to the King and Queen. When 'Merida' closed her bedroom door, she accidentally caused them to wake up. Once they were up, it was hard to put them back to sleep. "Merida's back," said Harris happily. "Maybe she'll read us a story for bed like mommy and daddy do?" replied Hubert. "Lets ask her," said Hamish. The three boys nodded their heads and silently got out of their beds, heading for the door. Once they crept out into hallway, they heard 'Merida' talking in a voice that they've never heard before.

"Now... which plan of mine should I use to overthrow the rulers and take power for myself? They're all very good plans, but I can only use one," 'Merida' said, now talking in Mercilla's voice.

The triplets quickly looked at one another, wondering why their usually kind-hearted sister is talking like this and would say a thing like that. They slowly and stealthfully opened her door slowly, leaving it open enough for them to look in, but small enough so that 'Merida' couldn't see them. Sure enough, there they saw her, pacing back and forth, stroking her chin evilly and she thought.

"Oh this is such a hard decision. Why did I have to think up of so many good plans?" As she continued pacing back and forth, she began to sing.

_This surge of power inside me is growing,_

_making me want to do many evil things._

_The need to rule is very strong, _

_is it so wrong?_

_NO!_

('Merida' smirks evilly as she continues pacing as the triplets watch from the door in surprise.)

_This place will soon be mine._

_Mine and mine alone!_

_I have given into the power,_

_because it feels so deliciously good _('Merida' smiles, closing her eyes happily as if she's taking in some of the evil thoughts like how someone would eat scrumptious food)

_And to those that stand in my way_

_your ends are so very near. _('Merida' moves her arms in a sweeping motion, pretending to swipe away invisible enemies)

_I'll make sure to that._

_What can I do? What can I do?_

_Turn the lords all into jelly? _('Merida' opens the palm of her hand, causing a bright purple ball of energy to form. Harris, Hubert, and Hamish gasp quietly in surprise.)

_No, no, that won't do. _(The purple ball fades away and she closes her palm.)

_Maybe some homicidal deaths will be their fates? _('Merida' continues pacing back and forth for a few minutes before finally stopping and smirks evilly.)

_I got it! I got!_

_I have the perfect plan._

_It's so crafty, it's so sneaky,_

_and so devious._

_I will spread some rumors, make false allegations._

_Once the leaders go into war, kill themselves they will._

_From the ashes I shall rise,_

_to take the power that is rightfully mine._

_That is my plan to rule._

'Merida' stopped singing and sighed happily. "That's the plan. I'll start the rumor-spreading tomorrow, which will hopefully give me the power I have craved for ever since the urges came." 'Merida' laughed as she got into bed, eager to start her mayhem-causing plan. "Yep," she said with a yawn. "I'll soon be ruler of DunBroch, and then I'll go on to rule other kingdoms, uniting them as one with DunBroch. 'Merida' started to drift off to sleep as she finished the sentence.

Harris, Hamish, and Hubert had horrified looks on their faces. They didn't know what was wrong with their sister, but as they crept back into their room, the sneaking suspicion that this Merida wasn't really their sister entered their thoughts. They climbed into their beds and simply laid there, wondering what all would happen tomorrow and how they could stop this in silence before eventually falling to sleep.

* * *

End of Chapter 6

**A/C: **Now the truth behind Mercilla's past has been revealed and how the future of DunBroch is the way it is has also been revealed. Next chapter, we'll see what the real Merida's reaction to all of this is and if she'll make it back to her kingdom home. Stay tuned.


	8. Chapter 7:Searching for a Way Back

Here's Chapter 7, hope you enjoy it. This chapter features a surprise appearance by my favorite team that was in the game Sonic Heroes.

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_Over the Ocean Way, Approaching Green Hill Zone_

**((Youtube: watch?v=JBl5p1yvnfQ starts playing))**

Night was approaching as the Tornado flew over the ocean. It wasn't that long ago since the sun went down, but there was still enough to make for a beautiful sunset end. Sonic, Tails, and Merida hadn't said a word ever since they departed from Angel Island. They were all tired from the long flight to and from the floating island and all of them wanted to rest.

Merida looked down at the ocean, using what remaining sunlight was there to watch some majestic-looking waves crash into one another. The appearance of a large landmass shifted her attention away from the somewhat peaceful ocean. "Finally we've made it back," she said. "I don't know about you two, but I really need to get some rest."

"I'm with Merida on that. This hedgehog's tired," Sonic replied. "Plus I need to get moving. Standing here all day isn't my idea of a good, fun time."

"We'll go back to my workshop and rest. I'm getting tired too. Tomorrow morning is when we'll go to Eggman's fortress," Tails replied.

**((Music ends))**

It didn't take long for them to finally make it back to the workshop. As they all departed from the plane, they found it a little bit difficult to walk, mainly due to being in uncomfortable positions for most of their day, but unlike the others, Sonic still had a little bit of energy still in him.

"I'm going to go back to my home, but I'll be back tomorrow morning," Sonic said, starting to make his way to the workshop door.

"Why don't you just stay here for the night?" Merida asked.

"I need the exercise. You can come with me if you want to Merida," he replied, waiting by the door.

"Um...," Merida started remembering the last time she and Sonic ran, mainly how she had a very difficult time keeping up with him, despite the fact that he held her arm as he ran. "I think I'll stay here."

"Okay, see you two tomorrow," Sonic said before quickly dashing out of the workshop in a blue blur.

Merida looked at Tails. "Where do you want me to sleep at?"

"You can sleep on the couch for tonight," the fox replied with a yawn. "I'll go get you a blanket." As Tails walked back into another room in the workshop, one which probably was his bedroom, Merida looked around for the couch, finally finding it close to a window. She crawled ontop of it and made herself a nice little sleeping spot on it just as Tails came out of the room, carrying a blanket. "Here's your blanket," Tails said as he handed it to her.

"Thanks." Merida laid down and covered herself up in the blanket, feeling all nice, warm and snug. "Good night."

"Night," Tails replied before turning out the lights and returning to his room.

As Merida closed her eyes, she wondered how her family was doing and if everyone there was alright. She hoped Mercilla was doing a good job at being her. The question of if this Eggman really did have a machine that would take her back home bounced around her head, but that thought, along with all the others, were quickly fading as the Scottish princess drifted off to sleep.

The smell of hot breakfast managed to wake Merida from her peaceful sleep. With one eye opened in a curious manner, she looked around at her limited view of the surroundings, seeing both Sonic and Tails sitting at one of Tails' many tables, preparing to eat. She hoisted her body up and felt the sunshine's heat as it entered the window. She got off the couch with a yawn and a stretch. "What time is it?" she asked as she stretched once again.

The sound of Merida's voice got the attention of Sonic and Tails, causing them to turn to her. "It's almost ten. 'Bout time you woke up," Sonic replied. "We were just about to leave," he said jokingly.

Merida smiled and gave a laugh. "You better not leave me behind. I don't want to have to track you down, now do I?"

Hearing her say that made the blue hedgehog laugh. "You'd have a hard time at that. Anyways, come and get some food. We need to be going in an hour."

Merida nodded and went over to the makeshift dinning table and got herself a plate, putting some food on it. "This looks very tasty," she said before taking a bite out of some bacon. "Mmm, yummy."

"Thanks, I made it myself," Tails said. "My food's not usually any good. I'm not that much of a cook, but I get by."

"Well I think it tastes pretty good," Merida replied, now eating some eggs.

Sonic grabbed a chili-dog and chowed down on it while Tails ate some of his fried potatoes.

**((Youtube: watch?v=3Pbag8WjPeo starts playing))**

Breakfast flew by and after an hour of preparation, they were all ready to go. Tails still had to tune up the Tornado and make some system checks, due to the fact that they were going to Eggman's fortress and that almost anything could happen there. Merida was standing on the top wing, anchoring herself with the same rope as yesterday, but with a different arrow, while Sonic stood at the stand, waiting impatiently for Tails to finish up yet another system check. "Come on Tails, lets get this show on the road or by the time we get Merida back, she'll be as old as a granny."

"I'm just making sure everything's in working order. We don't want to have something conk out on us if Eggman has returned and his forces engage us." Tails replied, finishing up his final check. After a few more minutes, the fox shouted: "I'm done." and got into the cockpit, starting up the biplane.

**((Music ends))**

Merida smiled delightfully as the plane once again flew away from the hanger and the runway, heading back out to the ocean, but this time the plane turned around and started flying over and behind Tails' workshop, heading towards Green Hill Zone. Based on their current trajectories, she deduced that they were heading to a sinister-looking mountain in the distance. "Hey Sonic," she said. She was unable to turn and look at him due to the fact she didn't want any wind to push her around. "You said something about this Eggman guy not being in his base...fortress...thing, so, where is he?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. The last time I saw him was when he tried to wipe out all of time and space with this machine thing he called the Time Eater. After me and my past self defeated both him and his past self, I was brought back to where I was before all of that happened."

"Do you think he'll be back?"

"He'll always come back. That guy can survive almost anything that can be dished out at him. When it comes to me and him, it's sorta like my job to beat him and his evil schemes."

Merida was now intrigued by this epic struggle between Sonic and Eggman. "Tell me, what adventures did you have before you and I met?"

"Well, there was the time he tried to build this giant machine he called the Death Egg..." Sonic began to say as the Tornado flew off to Eggman's fortress.

_Dr. Eggman's Fortress, near Mt. Snowridge_

**((Youtube: watch?v=3CxW3Ry6B1U starts playing))**

Down near the base of Mt. Snowridge, a large fortress, gray in color, stood. On the front of the fortress was a large symbol which resembled the face of Dr. Eggman. Surrounding the fortress were large battery cannons, used for taking out any pesky flying foes that happened to come his way. There used to be forest land all around the base of the majestic mountain, but ever since Eggman used this place for another one of his bases, the forest had been striped down and removed.

Inside the control room, the walls and floors were nothing but the color white. On the walls, monitors hung in place, each connected to consoles which were almost all over the place. In the corner to the far right of the room, there sat a large stasis pod-like object, containing the robot known as Metal Sonic inside. In the room's front, a huge monitor, bigger than all the others, rested. Positioned in front of the huge screen was a white chair that somewhat resembled an egg.

**((Music softens a little, but still plays))**

From the chair, a familiar, booming and maniacal laugh filled the room, which entered the vast hallway the room led out into. The chair swiveled around, revealing the laugh came from none other than Eggman himself. "Oh how it's great to be back at last!" he said to himself as he got out of his chair. "Sonic may have gotten rid of me for a little bit, but like the cold, I'll always be coming back." He turned back to the monitor, thinking a little as he watched it. "Now that I have all seven Chaos Emeralds, I wonder when I'll be getting the welcome wagon? G.U.N. had to have sent some of their agents to retrieve the emeralds." Eggman started to chuckle evilly. "Oh what devious plans I have for the unlucky people sent to come after them." Eggman started typing on the console in front of him, bringing up the radar screen for both the interior and exterior of the base.

The radar screen scanning the exterior of the base suddenly picked up three targets, revealing their presence to Eggman in the form of three red dots. The dots were closing in on the entrance to the base very fast, but instead of concern, Eggman only laughed. "Looks like they've crept right under my nose," he said in a sarcastic voice that had some enjoyment mixed in. Eggman slammed his balled up fist onto a red button, which caused a loud alarm to ring out through the entire base, inside and out. "All Eggman robots! Engage the intruders that have so kindly stepped foot on my doorstep," the evil genius said through the intercom system.

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=kvtePL3rhsU starts playing, but softly in the background))**

Outside the fortress, a group made of two animals and a robot steadily approached the base's entrance. The animal in front, leading the group on their way, was a black hedgehog with upwards-pointing head quills. The skin around its mouth and in its ears was tan, its eyes were red and it's medium-length nose was black. On the corners of its eyes, red stripes were there, as well as on its head quills going downwards. On its chest was a white tuft of fur. White gloves with black and red cuffs were covering its hands, with a single, golden ring on each wrist and ankle. Its shoes were red, black, and white with jets on the bottom, making its height to be around 3'3.

Following behind the hedgehog was a female bat, which had white fur on her head that went outwards a little bit at the neckline. Her skin was tan while her eyes were blue-green, which were surrounded by powder blue eyeliner and she wore pink lipstick. On her back were a couple of black wings. She wore a black suit with a pink, heart-shaped breast plate. The boots the bat wore were white with a pink heart at the tips with pink at the top of the boots. Her gloves were white with pink cuffs. Her height was about 3'5.

The final member of the three was a large robot with a bulky chest that was two halves red with a white stripe down the middle. The lower halves of its chest were black. Its shoulders were black while the left one had a red Greek symbol for the word 'omega'. Its large arms were red and black with large gold wrists that had silver diamonds going around it. The hand had four silver/gray fingers. Its head sticks into its body, only showing a yellow head with red, glowing optics. Its torso was small, red, and gray, which had small legs connected. On the center of the torso was a single, green square. Its upper legs were light gray and red while the lower legs and feet were red and black with a green square in the middle of its toes. It stood 4'11, towering over the other two individuals.

Team Dark had so far successfully infiltrated Dr. Eggman's fortress base. Team Dark was a covert team under the command of G.U.N. The hedgehog was Shadow, the bat was Rouge, and the robot was E-123 Omega. They were at Eggman's base due to the evil doctor stealing two of the Chaos Emeralds that were in G.U.N.'s possession.

"Okay, we've made it this far so everyone try not to make a sound so we don't alert the Doctor to our presence," Shadow said in a quiet whisper. As they approached the base, they were doing so in a stealthy and sneaky way, even Omega was, who usually very noisy when he walked. Just as they were a few feet from the entrance, loud alarms suddenly rang out through the surrounding area, causing the team to leap back a couple feet. "Damn, we've been detected," Shadow cursed.

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=41Cm7dU5f1g starts playing))**

Eggman's command to attack caused the front entrance to open, spilling out dozens of his evil machines.

Shadow, Rouge and Omega charged forward, planning to scrap each and every robot until nothing was functional, save Omega. Shadow's hands were glowing brightly as he charged up his Chaos Energy, Rouge had some of her specialty bombs with her, and Omega had changed his hands into some turret barrels. The sound of an approaching aircraft immediately stopped both sides, causing them to shift their gaze from each other to up in the sky. "What the–?" started Rouge, but was interrupted by the arrival of a biplane which was carrying three individuals.

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=uVNCukjQP8k starts playing))**

As the Tornado flew over the fortress, all its passengers looked down to the ground, seeing what appeared to be a battle in progress. "Looks like Eggman's back," Tails said.

"Take us down. I'm in the mood to kick some robo-butt and give Eggman a welcome back gift," Sonic said, punching his palm in a somewhat hardcore like way.

Merida nodded her head in agreement. She wanted to give Eggman something to think about after the stories Sonic had told her of what he had tried to do to this future world many times in the past. "I'm with Sonic."

"Okay, hang on," Tails replied, taking the Tornado in a downwards dive.

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=x2aFPRLL2UM starts playing))**

Back on the ground, Team Dark and Eggman's robots watched the strange biplane fly downwards toward them, wondering why it was doing that. As the plane got closer, it was instantly recognized by Team Dark, knowing who was now coming. "He was bound to show up some time," Shadow said, a little gruffness in his voice. "Show's over now, time to play." Shadow quickly dashed over to some Shellcrackers, which were basically robot crabs with a large right-hand claw, and tackled one of them, sending it right into its other comrades.

"All Eggman robots are to be terminated!" said Omega, who was currently blasting apart a large group of approaching Motobugs, which were beetle-like robots with a single wheel underneath their bodies.

Different models of robots were quickly converging on Rouge, who was throwing her bombs at most of them, causing explosions that took out some of their allies who were unfortunate to be close to them, causing most of them to scatter away and try to make another striking pass at her. "Much easier said than done Omega." Suddenly, laser fire from the air struck the ground close to where Rouge was standing a few seconds ago, causing her to leap away from the spot even further. "Ahh!" She looked up and saw some Buzz Bombers, robot wasps, flying overhead, continuing their fire on her. "Shadow, come and get these pesky bugs off my back," she said before jumping over a Cop Speeder, a robot monkey in a cop-decoed hover speeder, just in time to avoid another one. The fate for the two Cop Speeders who came at her was not a good one.

Shadow was currently dodging some sharp claw projectiles that a group of Slicers, robotic mantises, had thrown at him when he heard Rouge's call for help. As he landed, he quickly took a look at her location and saw her dodging attacks from both Cop Speeders from the ground and Buzz Bombers from the sky. His hands quickly glowed with Chaos Energy before he let off a burst of Chaos Spears, trashing the group of Slicers. Using the jets on his shoes, Shadow took off in a burst of speed over to Rouge's location and leaped into the air, heading towards the nearest Buzz Bomber he could find. A roundhouse kick from the black hedgehog sent the robot colliding into two of its comrades, sending them to the ground in a burning heap.

Rouge quickly planted a bomb in the seat of the Cop Speeder she had just narrowly avoided and watched as the robot's vehicle exploded. After a chuckle, she turned around and gasped as she saw another Cop Speeder coming at her at a fast speed. It was coming too fast to avoid now, but before anything happened, Shadow landed ontop of the speeding robot, causing to instantly stop in its tracks. The black hedgehog quickly began bashing the robot driver's head in with his fists, quickly destroying it's brain. Rouge sighed in relief and smiled at Shadow. "Thanks for the save Shadow." Shadow huffed a little. "Just be careful and be alert next time," he said before quickly speeding off to a group of Newtrons, robot iguanas. Rouge shrugged her shoulders and leaped into the air to fight off some Spinners, which were robots with whirling blades on their torsos that helped them fly.

Omega was blasting away any robot that entered his sight with his turret barrels, enjoying all the destruction he was causing to the robots. As he eviscerated some Shellcrackers, the Tornado had finally came close to the ground where there were hardly any robots, dropping off Sonic and Merida. Tails saw that Rouge was having a hard time with some Spinners, he quickly called out to her. "Hey Rouge, I'll handle this." Rouge heard him and quickly got out of the way of the small plane as it quickly did a spin, knocking the Spinners out of the sky with its wings. With that, Rouge waved to Tails and landed on the ground, heading to take out some Rhino-Tanks, robot rhinoceros with tank treads for legs.

Sonic turned to Merida, an eager smile on his face. "You ready for this? Oh man this is going to be so much fun. It's been too long since I got to trash some 'bots."

Merida got her bow out and put in an arrow, smirking at the blue hedgehog. "Indeed I am. Lets go teach these robots a thing or two." At that moment, two Baby Kikis, robot monkeys, were approaching them with their bombs ready for throwing, but they wouldn't get that chance since Merida impaled an arrow into both of their bodies. The robots fell to the ground, causing their bombs to detonate.

Sonic gave her a wink and a thumbs up before looking around for some robots to take out. What he soon saw was that of Shadow being surrounded by some Aero Chasers, which were somewhat humanoid-looking robots with large jet boosters on their backs, about ready to incinerate the black hedgehog with their lasers. Using his Sonic Boost, the blue hedgehog disappeared in a blue blur and rapidly approached them.

Merida watched for a few seconds, but her gaze soon turned to a bat who was fighting off some weird-looking green robots. Wanting to help her, she quickly ran over to the bat, bow and arrow aimed at the robot that was approaching it from behind.

**((Music stops))**

Shadow looked around in all directions, seeing nothing but robots. With a growl of anger, he soon thought '_How did I get into this situation? I'm a lot better than this.' _As the Aero Chasers started powering up their lasers, a blue form slammed into one of them, causing the others to turn to see what had happened, but before any of them could react, a blue ball slammed into an Aero Chaser, launching it up into the air, revealing Sonic the Hedgehog. The Aero Chasers quickly target the hedgehog with their lasers, but it was too late. Sonic quickly repeated his Homing Attack on the remaining Aero Chasers before they could even fire a single shot. Once Sonic landed on the ground, he turned to Shadow. "Hey Shadow, long time no see." Shadow simply grunted and shot off towards an approaching group of Motobugs who were coming up from behind Rouge and some human female. Sonic watched the black hedgehog run off. "Nice to see you too Shadow." He quickly saw some Buzz Bombers approaching Omega, so he quickly ran off to intercept them.

**((Youtube: watch?v=mlhKmiJQNr8 starts playing))**

Tails had managed to fly the Tornado up and bank off for a downwards dive once again. He quickly pressed some buttons on the small key-console in front of him. "Tornado Battle Mode: Engage!" Suddenly, the biplane's form started transforming. The wings pulled back, making an X shape while the back revealed a hidden thruster and the front engine of the biplane extended forward a bit. As Tails steadily approached a clean area where he could strafe some of the robots, he saw that half of the robots that had been there before the battle were now all but junk, but that didn't mean he couldn't help junk some of the rest. As he shot heavily lead onto the robots below, they were instantly trashed, due to their weak armor, and he lifted the battle plane back into the air for another flyby.

Back on the ground, Merida quickly shot her arrow straight at the dangerously fast approaching robot, impaling its head. The dead robot stopped just in time, for it was just a few inches from nailing Rouge in the back. She quickly loaded another bow and started firing them at the remaining robots.

The sound of something hitting metal made Rouge turn around and see the dead Rhino-Tank, but before she could wonder what had done it, the sound of revving turned her attention back to the front, where she saw a Rhino-Tank begin its charge at her. Suddenly, an arrow slammed into it's head, causing it to stop. Two more arrows flew by, each impaling a Rhino-Tank's head. "What the?" She looked to where the arrows came from and saw a female human with a bow run over to her.

"Hi. I thought you might need some help," Merida said.

"Um, thanks," Rouge said.

"My name's Merida." Something caught her attention in the corner of her eye and she saw a weird robot with a blade in the middle flying at her. She quickly got another arrow in her bow and shot it, easily bringing the robot down. The robot was quickly joined by more of its model. Some bombs quickly slammed into the approaching robots, bringing them out of the sky. She turned around and saw Rouge carrying some of the same bombs. "You aren't half bad with that bow redhead," she said with a smile.

Suddenly, a black blur sped past Merida, causing her to fall on her behind. "Hey!" she shouted, but before she could say anything else, she saw the blur become a black hedgehog. The hedgehog then quickly disappeared, then reappeared in front of a group of approaching Motobugs. It kicked one of the robots in the face, sending it crashing into two others before disappearing again, this time reappearing right in front of another, this time punching it straight in the face, causing it's head to compress back into its body. The hedgehog disappeared again, appearing right in front of Merida.

**((Music stops))**

"Thank you."

Shadow just grunted and moved on to where Omega was currently battling some Spinners and Egg Pawns, orange humanoid robots, with Sonic.

Rouge laughed a little. "Don't mind him, that's just Shadow's thing."

Merida said nothing, but watched the black hedgehog quickly smash some of the orange robots with his bare hands.

"We should join them, this battle's about done with," Rouge replied before moving towards Omega and the others, Merida following behind her.

Once the females got there, they assisted in the defeat of the last remaining robots. After Tails strafed them, he turned the biplane from battle mode back to its regular self and landed it by the entrance, getting out just as the others reached there.

"So, who are you?" Merida asked Rouge as she and the others stopped at the front.

"The better question would be who are you?" Shadow asked, his arms folded across his chest.

"I'm Merida, and you are...?"

"I'm Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog."

"I'm Rouge the Bat."

"I am E-123 Omega."

"We are Team Dark, and we're on a mission from G.U.N.," continued Shadow.

"Now that we all know Eggman's back from wherever he was, what's he up to this time?" Sonic asked.

"He broke into G.U.N.'s base and stole two Chaos Emeralds we had in our possession, and he's also stolen the other five emeralds, so it's our job to retrieve them," Shadow answered.

"Chaos Emeralds?" Merida asked, confused as to what they could be, besides the obvious answer of emeralds.

"The Chaos Emeralds are powerful emeralds that can change thoughts into reality. They are extremely powerful and in the wrong hands can cause massive devastation on the planet," Tails said.

"Which is why we need to get them fast, before Eggman can do anything with them," Shadow said, starting to head into the base. The rest of Team Dark quickly followed him while Sonic, Tails, and Merida followed. "So Sonic, why are you here?" Shadow asked, not even turning to face him as he continued walking.

"We're here to try and return Merida to her proper time with Eggman's time.. teleporter machine.. thing," Sonic replied.

"That thing would probably be in his control room, so you might wanna check there. He'd want to keep it safe and have an eye on it at all times, so why not keep it where you'd be all the time?" Rouge said.

"So, where do you think the Chaos Emeralds?" Merida asked, asking no one in particular.

"Scanning for Emeralds," Omega retorted, his scanners hard at work as the others came to a stop at a four-way intersecting hallway. Inside Omega's processor of a head, he had made a digital blueprint of the interior of the fortress and began to run a radar scan for the Chaos Emeralds using an energy detector homed in onto the energy signature the emeralds gave off. After a few seconds, he got a target lock on one of Eggman's storage room. "Chaos Emeralds located. Proceed down this hallway, Omega said, pointing to the hallway to the left of them.

"Good work Omega," Shadow said before turning to Rouge. "Lets go." Shadow, Rouge, and Omega started to proceed down the hallway, leaving Sonic and the others behind. Suddenly, Omega stopped and turned back to face them. "Control room is located down the hallway in front of you." He then turned back around and followed his teammates.

"Thanks," Sonic said before looking at his friends. "Come on, lets go." With that, Sonic led Tails and Merida onwards to Eggman's control room.

* * *

End of Chapter 7

**A/C:** Merida is getting closer to a way to get back in time, but in the next chapter, Mercilla starts her plan for control over the kingdom. Will Merida get back in time before that happens? Find out in the next chapter. Stay tuned.


	9. Chapter 8:Starting the Plan & The Return

_DunBroch_

Morning had arrived and the sun shone all throughout the kingdom. Even though the sun's rays of pure light made today seem like it was going to be a grand, wonderful, and glorious day, how the day would really progress was just the opposite that.

'Merida' had just now woken up, a smile stretched out on her face, but not just any smile, an evil smile. "Today is the day," she said before hurriedly jumping out of the bed and quickly went down the stairs. The sound of a door slamming shut woke up the triplets. By the time they got out of their beds and opened their door, 'Merida' was already downstairs.

Harris led his other two brothers to their supposed "sister's" door and slowly opened it. He had to make sure "Merida" had really gone, which by the sight of her not being there and a messed up bed proved that to be true. As he led his siblings back out into the hallway, he sat on the ground, looking down. "What are we going to do about this?"

"Mommy and daddy probably won't believe us if we tell them that sissy isn't really sissy," Hamish said.

"And if we do even tell them, then sissy will probably hurt us or do something worser if she found out," Hubert replied.

"There's nothing we can do," Hamish said sadly. The three toddlers simply sat on the floor, each of them trying to get their five year old brains to somehow think up a solution to their problem.

No one was downstairs yet, probably cuz the King and Queen wanted some extra minutes of sleep before starting their day, so 'Merida' had no problem making it out of the castle. As she started down the path that led her to a split path. The right path would take her to the village that was behind the castle, which was Lord Macintosh's, while the path to her left would lead her to Lord Dingwall's village. She decided to clockwise around the kingdom, so she started down the left path. Before she entered the town, she decided to change her appearance to that of a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties. '_Here goes nothing,' _Mercilla thought as she entered the village.

Once Mercilla entered the village's town square, she immediately started her plan, so she called out to everyone, getting the whole village's attention. As the people looked at her, she knew they were thinking she had better have a reason for stopping whatever they were doing that was of some importance to them. "I heard that Lord Macintosh considers Lord Dingwall to be an incompetent brute with the mind of a goldfish." This caused the reaction Mercilla was hoping for: irritation and anger, although it was in a few of the villagers, a little was a lot better than nothing. "Also, the King and Queen have been planning to kick this village out of the main three and make it the main two now due to all of us to be pains in the rear end." As more of the villagers became madder, a slight evil smirk appeared on Mercilla's disguised face, but made sure to hide it from the villagers. "And MacGuffin agrees with this plan, thinking that we're all just worthless liabilities who can't do anything right." The villagers were now all mad at this, and were swarming throughout the village. Mercilla managed to duck into the crowd and sneak off to the next village, which was Lord Macintosh's.

**((Youtube: watch?v=88fDj1Y-rGg starts playing))**

Once at Macintosh's village, Mercilla, now in the guise of young man, did the same thing as before. "I found out that the King and Queen are regretting their daughter's choosing of Lord Macintosh's prince. They wished she would have chosen either Dingwall's or MacGuffin's prince instead. Namely because they don't wanna work with our beloved lord." Like before, some of the villagers reacted angrily to this so Mercilla continued. "MacGuffin thinks that Macintosh is simply a tribal native in need of taming." The villagers became madder by that comment. For the final touch, Mercilla added this: "Dingwall also thinks that he and his villagers can whip the whole lot of us in a tussle." Now these villagers were steamed and peeved. No one dare insulted their ability to fight. Mercilla once again slipped into the angry mob and continued to her final destination.

Mercilla was already spreading her false rumors in MacGuffin's village, this time in the guise of a middle-aged woman in her forties with the same blue tattoos most of the villagers had on their bodies. "Dingwall considers us to be blue fools who need to wash this garbage off our bodies and actually wise up." After hearing the villagers shouts of anger, she continued. "The King and Queen simply think we're all dumb apes that resemble an ignorant ancestor of humanity." Louder shouts followed that insult. "Macintosh is glad that princess Merida chose his prince instead of ours, mainly due to the fact that now Merida won't suffer being married to the fat lard we call our prince." As the villagers all became mad, Mercilla slipped away into the crowd once more, this time to return to the castle and watch her maddening plan all unfold.

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=_AhtW1iNoRM starts playing))**

The rumors spread all over the kingdom, every village hearing what their lord said about their's and what the King and Queen said, which caused some small fights to break out between villagers of different villages. Finally, the rumors reached the lords' themselves, who didn't take them too kindly. "THEY SAID WHAT?" shouted MacGuffin, slamming his balled-up fist onto the arm of his throne angrily. "The other two lords and the King and Queen themselves said many insulting things about you and us," said the villager who broke the news to MacGuffin. "Well lets just beat these lies out of their heads and put in the truth. Tell everyone to prepare for war!"

The same reaction was held by Dingwall when a villager told him about the rumors about him and their village that were floating about. "So I'm incompetent, eh? Lets just see if they can hold off an incompetent brute with a goldfish brain! We'll get the King and Queen first since they think they can kick us out of the kingdom!" Dingwall shouted.

And at Macintosh's village... "They won't get away with these insulting things. We'll show them all what a bunch of tribal-minded people can do. Start the war, we won't stop until either we win or... well, we won't stop until we win."

As the day went on, each of the lords' armies advanced through the villages and began battle in the heart of all three of them. Many smaller battles broke out, which were both vicious and grueling. The battles enveloped nearly all of the kingdom's villages, some parts getting close to the castle. Arrows and spears flew through the air, as did large boulders that were fired from wooden catapults.

As the battle commenced, 'Merida' watched with glee and utter happiness as her plan to rule was slowly unfolding in front of her. Her smile was that of eagerness and pleasure._ 'Hopefully the dummies will do what I think they'll do,'_ she thought to herself. A main part of her plan was for the lords to somewhat team up and take out the King and Queen before going back to their own separate battles.

**((Music stops))**

* * *

_Dr. Eggman's Fortress, Hallway leading to the Control Room_

The three heroes, Sonic, Tails, and Merida charged down the hallway, sort of surprised by the fact that they hadn't seen any of Eggman's robots guarding the hallway or anywhere in sight. It was kind of confusing, but none of them complained about it. At least it wouldn't be too much of a problem getting Merida back home. Just as they were thinking that on their approach to the entrance to the control room, a sudden flash of whitish-green light appeared before them, basically out of nowhere, which forced them to stop and shield their eyes from it due to the intense brightness. Luckily, the light didn't last for long. Once they returned their arms and hands to their sides, they saw that standing in the light's place was a silver-white hedgehog, roughly about Sonic's size.

Sonic and Tails instantly recognized who the mystery hedgehog was while Merida stared at it. "Hey Silver, what are you doing here?" Sonic asked.

"I'm on a mission to save the future from–" That was when Silver saw Merida standing with them. "You!" he said, a little bit in surprise and anger. He didn't expect Sonic to be actually helping Merida. He shot his hand forward and made his psychokinesis energy flow out of his palm and surround Merida, causing her to lift off the ground a few feet and trap her in a kinetic energy prison.

**((Youtube: watch?v=pa0CcWoLml4 starts playing))**

Merida struggled to at least move one part of her body, but found herself unable due to some invisible force that binded her. "What's the big idea? I didn't do anything to you, I mean, I don't even know you!" Merida protested, still trying to break free.  
"What's going on Silver?" Sonic asked angrily. Silver wasn't going to do any harm to his new friend, at least not while he was around. Tails looked at the silver-white hedgehog both in confusion and anger. Sonic suddenly took off at Silver, so Tails did the same thing. The both leaped at Silver and were about to do a Spin Attack, but suddenly Silver quickly used his free hand to make a sweeping motion, which caused more of his psychokinesis energy to knock away the two aggressors. Sonic and Tails quickly got back up, but just like Merida, they too were trapped in Silver's psychokinesis hold.

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=9BEw4qeoZOQ starts playing))**

"Sonic, you can't help her. She's the reason the future is such a disaster and is in ruins... well at least one part of the world is," Silver said, trying to make Sonic and Tails understand why he was doing this. "She has to be stopped."

"What are you talking about, I would never do anything to harm or destroy or cause anything bad to happen to anyone!" Merida shouted, feeling angered by her situation.

"She's telling the truth Silver, she wouldn't do that to anyone. We should know. Me and Sonic have known her long enough," Tails said.

"But in the future, she will use the weapons she got here to kill the ruling parties of DunBroch in the past and take leadership for herself," Silver replied.

"Wait, wait, hold up. Where did you get an idea like that?" Merida asked, now really confused.

"It wasn't an idea. I read about it in the EFF's main database."

"What's the EFF?" Sonic asked.

"The EFF stands for the Europe Freedom Fighters. As time went on, DunBroch became a tyranny-filled kingdom, under the rule of Merida and the rest of her warlord lineage. DunBroch slowly conquers everyone around it, eventually controlling the whole of Europe in my time. Now that Europe is under DunBroch's control, our intelligence officers report that they now want to take over other countries on other continents. I just can't allow that to happen." Silver turned to Merida. "Time to end this."

**((Music ends))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=_id49XRGCfs starts playing))**

Merida grunted and let out a yelp which increased in volume as she felt her invisible bondage tighten around her, starting to squeeze her tightly. This Silver guy wanted to squeeze the very life out of her. "Please stop!" she shouted as the oxygen started departing her lungs at an incredibly fast rate. "I would never ever do that." Her mind began racing with all the possibilities that could have caused the future that Silver said occurs, when suddenly it hits her: Mercilla. "Wait, stop, I'm not the one you want to dispose of. I know who's really behind this."

Silver looked at her, curious, but not stupid enough to free her just yet. He gently let up on his squeezing and looked at her closely. "Who was it then?"

**((Music switches to Youtube: watch?v=thyVahJ81UA))**

"I was brought here by Mercilla, who is a wise woman in my kingdom. She teleported me here using some of her mystical powers because I sort of wanted to get away from my kingdom to relax a little bit and I always wanted to see the future. Anyways, she said she'd take my image and basically be me while I was here, so if it's anyone that causes what you say will happen, it's her."

He studied her closely, trying to see and make sure she wasn't lying to him about this. "How do I know you're telling me the truth?"

"Believe me Silver, she's telling the truth. Just trust us, okay. Would I be with her if she had some evil plan in mind to destroy her family and lords?" Sonic said.

The white-silver hedgehog took a moment to think about this, mainly because what he does right now could determine how the future turns out. He trusted Sonic and if Sonic trusted what this Merida said, then he should too. "Alright." With that, he released Merida and Sonic and Tails from his hold, allowing them to return to their original positions. "I just hope I made the right decision," he said to himself.

Sonic went over and gently patted the hedgehog's shoulder. "You did, trust me."

**((Music stops))**

After feeling came back to her body, Merida's face instantly turned into a scowl. "How dare she kill my family and the lords. I should have known she would have tried to do this. Who knows what else she's also done if she's going to do this," she growled as she stormed down the hallway.

"Well, we'll get you to Eggman's machine and I'm sure we can take you back to your–" but Tails stopped talking as Merida marched into Eggman's control room. "Time." With that, the three animals quickly dashed down the hallway and went inside the room, not knowing what Merida would try to do in her angered state. As soon as they got inside, the first thing they saw was Merida aiming her bow, with an arrow currently loaded inside, right at Eggman's face. "Take me back to my right time. Now," she said in an angered, yet stern voice.

Eggman, who had been sitting in his chair the whole time, was somewhat startled and confused by how this archer girl managed to get into his control room, but decided not to ask due to the dangerous situation she now placed him in. Although he wouldn't mention this, but he was pretty freaked out by the situation. One moment he was searching for where the intruders were in his fortress, the next, a red-head with a bow burst into his control room and began threatening him. "Um, okay... just don't hurt me or anything." He slowly got up and walked over to the time teleportation machine as Merida, Sonic, Tails, and Silver followed. The egg-shaped man started typing on the console, starting up the machine. "I need a location and a time period."

Merida lowered her bow and put the arrow back in her arrow case. "I know I want to go to DunBroch, but I have no clue which time period I'm from."

"Well you better find the answer quick archer girl or you won't be going anywhere," Eggman replied, annoyed by this.

"She needs to go to DunBroch in the 10th century," Silver said.

"Okay," Eggman said as he put in the correct coordinates. After a few seconds he turned back to the group. "It's finished, so get out of my base before I call in my robots."

_Eggman's Storage Room #32, Eggman's Fortress_

As Team Dark quietly approached the corridor leading into the entrance archway of the storage room containing the Chaos Emeralds, Shadow quickly took a peek at what was waiting around the bend. What he saw was a group of four robots, Egg Pawns to be specific. They weren't too hard to take down, so getting into the room should be no problem. Shadow looked at the other two members of the team and began discussing his plan. "There are four Egg Pawns guarding the entrance, so to go and get the emeralds, Rouge is going to distract them before I take them out." The black hedgehog then turned to Omega. "You are going to keep a watch for anything that comes down that hallway. If something does come, fire at will. We'll probably have the emeralds if that happens so we don't need to worry about a sneaky exit," Shadow continued. "Affirmative," the hulking robot replied before making his way over to his post, starting to scan for any approaching Eggman robots. Shadow and Rouge departed, the bat heading over to the robots while Shadow stayed hidden behind the corridor.

Once the robots had Rouge in their target sights, they quickly aimed their guns at her, but for some odd reason couldn't find the urge to fire on her. This was all a part of Rouge's charm she had. It could affect anything, even machines. "I seem to be lost, so can you show me the right way to get to the control room? I'm one of Eggman's newest recruits," Rouge said, acting like she really was lost and telling the truth about it. As the robots looked at one another, they were trying to figure out what to do with her. After a few moments, one of the robots shrugged its shoulders and walked towards her, the other three following it, and decided to lead the bat to where the control room was. Rouge quickly walked back over to the corridor, but as soon as the first Egg Pawn came in, Shadow sprang into action.

**((Youtube: watch?v=Z0_QVSUClPY starts playing))**

The black hedgehog's right fist thrusted forward, nailing the robot in the face, which sent it hurtling back into the other three who were following close behind. The robots quickly got back to their feet and charged at Shadow, but the black hedgehog teleported out of the way and reappeared behind them, round-house kicking the last one in the back of its head. This caused the robot to fall forwards, creating a domino-effect with the others. As the robot got back up, it reached out and caught Shadow's arm, which promptly caused the hedgehog to punch the robot's face repeatedly.

Hearing the action in the corridor, Omega swiftly turned his attention to the fight, keeping his scanners on so that if something was coming from behind, he wouldn't be taken by surprise. The first thing he saw was three Egg Pawns about to unload their weapons on Rouge and the last one holding Shadow, so the red and black robot quickly charged at the robots surrounding Rouge, grabbing one and using it as a bat to knock away the Pawn to the right. The Pawn to the left tried to make a lunge at Omega, but it received a swift punch, sending it back into the hallway where it crashed into the corner of the hallway entrance wall.

Shadow quickly continued hammering on the robot's head, which now was completely dented and almost going inwards, but realized that this wasn't doing anything except slowing it down, so he slammed his right foot against the chest plate and used it to bounce out of the robot's hold. Using the quick seconds he had, the black hedgehog quickly revved up into a ball and Spin Dashed through the robot's chest, bursting out of the backside. Shadow uncurled himself as the robot fell lifelessly to the ground with a clang. He turned to the others and saw them trying to fight the remaining two Egg Pawns, which had just gotten back up from Omega's baseball swing, and yelled to them. "Forget the robots for now and lets get the Chaos Emeralds!" He quickly charged his hands up with Chaos Energy and let loose a Chaos Spear attack, blasting the doors wide open and ran inside.

Rouge and Omega were about to follow, but suddenly, gun fire from the robots zoomed by their heads, causing them to turn around and see the Egg Pawns charging at them. "I'll handle this," Omega replied, quickly activating a set of mini barrels around his right hand. He began firing small rounds at both the robots, causing chunks of metal to fall off with every shot.

Shadow looked around the room, quick as can be. He knew he didn't have much time before those robots would reach him, but once he heard the sound of gunfire, he knew Omega was taking care of it. He should have been mad by the fact that Rouge and Omega were disobeying an order, but right now, he could hardly care less. His eyes quickly darted around the room, searching high and low over tons of shelves, consoles and old machinery in his search for the emeralds, when something sparkling caught his eye. He looked to where it was coming from and saw that inside an old console were the Chaos Emeralds._ 'Very clever, hiding them where no one would even think to look,' _he thought to himself. He smashed the glass, grabbed the emeralds and ran back outside. Once out of the room, he saw Omega's right hand mini-barrels smoking and the two Egg Pawns laying on the ground, many pieces of their metal skin laying on the ground around them.

**((Music lowers in volume before stopping all-together))**

"Sorry to not follow an order Shadow, but these things were shooting right at us and were about to get–" Rouge began to say, but was interrupted by Shadow. "It doesn't matter. All that matters is that we've got what we came for and can now go back to G.U.N." Shadow walked down the hallway, turning to Omega. "Any robots coming in our direction?"

"Scans show that a large group of robots has been alerted to our presence and are now closing in on us," Omega reported.

"When will they reach us?" Shadow asked.

"In approximately t-minus 5 minutes."

"Lets get moving then." With that, Shadow dashed down the hallway, Rouge and Omega quickly following behind him. Once they reached the 4-way hallway intersection, Shadow and Omega started to sprint for the hallway in front of them, but Rouge stopped once she heard some talking coming from the direction of the control room hallway.

"Hey, wait a sec guys, I think I heard something," she said, causing both Shadow and Omega to stop.

"Yeah, it's the sound of Eggman's forces, so lets get going," Shadow retorted. He didn't have time for this.

"No, it sounds like talking. Omega, use you audio device thing to see what's going on," Rouge said.

"We don't have time for this," Shadow said, huffing angrily. "Just go ahead Omega. I can probably hold off any of those robots that should come our way."

Omega did what Rouge said and began an audio pick-up frequency and listened in on the conversation. After a few minutes, he spoke of what was going on. "It is a conversation between Merida and Eggman, along with Sonic and Silver."

"Sonic can deal with Eggman himself. He doesn't need our help," Shadow said.

"Mention of DunBroch in conversation," Omega replied.

"DunBroch..." Shadow was now interested in what was going on in there. "The same DunBroch that has most of Europe under its rule?"

"Precise. Conversation is about time travel and teleportation."

"Hmmm." Shadow began thinking about why Sonic would want to travel to DunBroch. '_Maybe he wants to stop DunBroch from taking over Europe so he's going to go and change the past,'_ he thought. Whatever Sonic was doing wasn't his concern, however, bringing down a tyrannical empire before it even became one was. "Lets go," Shadow said before changing his direction and walked towards the control room.

"But what about returning to base?" Rouge called out to him as Omega walked past her and followed Shadow, not saying a word.

"The chance to possibly stop DunBroch from holding the greater part of Europe under it's rule holds more precedence than simply returning Chaos Emeralds," Shadow answered, still walking to the control room.

Rouge simply shrugged her shoulders and began to follow. '_Maybe they'll have some precious jewels I can take,' _she thought happily as images of brilliant colored gems filled her mind.

Just as Merida and the others were about to enter the teleporter time machine, Team Dark came into the room. "We're coming too," Shadow said, causing everyone there to look at them. The way he said it made it clear that he meant business and there was no way of making him stay or change his mind.

The first thing Eggman saw was that the Chaos Emeralds were in Shadow's hands. "Why do you have my Chaos Emeralds? How did you even find them?" he shouted angrily.

"They belong to you as much as they belong to me," Shadow retorted, a scowl on his face as he and Team Dark approached Sonic and the others.

"So those are the Chaos Emeralds," Merida said as she gazed upon them. She had never seen anything so beautiful before. Their colors and they way they sparkled made her feel amazing, unlike anything she ever felt before. Along with that, she could feel they all held an amazing power.

"These emeralds are under G.U.N. protection Eggman and we're just taking them back after you stole them," Shadow continued. "And after we get back from Highlandera, they will be returned to G.U.N."

"You aren't going anywhere without me," said a familiar voice.

Everyone turned back to the entrance, and there stood Knuckles. "Hey there Knuckles. 'Bout time you showed up," Sonic remarked as the red echidna approached them.

Merida looked at Knuckles, slightly confused by his appearance here. "I thought you had to guard the Master Emerald on Angel Island?"

"I was going to do that, but then I started feeling bad that I didn't come with you to Eggman's fort. Besides, now that I know a certain _'someone' _isn't around to try and steal it," he looked directly at Rouge. "I knew it would be safe."

"Hey knucklehead, you better hope you can reach your little island before I do or you might just find your precious emerald gone," Rouge replied.

"Why I oughta...," Knuckles began, taking a threatening step towards Rouge, right hand balled up into a fist, but Sonic quickly intervened.

"Okay, enough, both of you," he said, getting in-between them.

Knuckles took a deep breath of air and continued speaking. "As I was saying, I came here to help. Seeing from the vast amount of junked metal you really didn't need me."

"Yeah, Eggman sent his clunkers out to try and stop us from coming to visit him to throw him a welcome back party," Sonic said.

The insult 'clunkers' caused Eggman to get offended. "Hey, my robots aren't clunkers. They just have a couple of bugs in their systems. Sooner or later I'll make some robots that'll finally rid me of you."

"Eggman, everyone here knows that will never ever happen," Sonic replied.

"Guys, can we please stop fighting. We need to get to DunBroch so that we can stop Mercilla," Merida said.

"She's right. Time to save the future," Silver replied.

Merida quickly leaped into the teleporter time machine, followed by Silver, Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Rouge, Omega, and Knuckles. After the heroes went inside, Eggman simply sat in his chair, staring at the machine. Inside his mind, a plan was already formulating.

The evil genius wanted to help stop DunBroch from turning into a tyrannical empire, but was disgusted by the fact that he would essentially be helping those goody-two shoes heroes. Luckily, the reason for his need of DunBroch's future to be changed was much, much different. Eggman wanted to conquer the world, but since DunBroch has vastly more power and influence than he has, along with much better robots that he's sure were copied off of his and G.U.N.'s own robots, he would have no chance of taking this world. _'If I can take out DunBroch in the past, they will no longer be the thron in my side they've always been,' _Eggman thought, a thin smirk filling his face. He got up, an evil laugh escaping from his mouth, and approached the main console, activating the fortress intercom system. "Attention all Eggman robots. You are to report to the Egg Carrier for transportation immediately."

It didn't take long for nearly half of Eggman's army to reach the Egg Carrier. The Egg Carrier was a massively huge airship that was very long. Colored red and black, the stream-lined appearing ship had four wings, two pointing upwards and two pointing down. Connected to the wings were large missile launchers, capable of firing a variety of missiles. The airship waited for the underground hanger's ceiling doors to fully open, causing some of the sun's rays to land on the airship.

**((Youtube: watch?v=1JzFxvhryJ0 starts playing))**

Once the doors were all the way back, the Egg Carrier gently lifted up into the air and continued upwards until it was a safe distance away from the ground and began to head straight forward. The pace of flight was slow, but that was only because it was waiting for its means of transportation to appear.

On the ground a good distance from it, the ground started to open up, causing a large machine-like object to rise up. Its appearance was that of an arch-shape, but as soon as the machine roared to life, a large, swirling vortex appeared in its center. This machine was actually a larger version of the teleporter time machine.

From the Egg Carrier's bridge, Eggman sat in the captain's chair and watched as the vessel got closer and closer to the swirling vortex. He quickly typed in the interfacing codes for the machine, so he would be able to transmit the commands he was about to type to the machine. After sending the commands telling the time period and location, the swirling portal started to swirl counterclockwise and began a color change pattern. Eggman's evil laugh rang out as the Egg Carrier plunged into the vortex, disappearing in a flash of white light.

**((Music stops))**

* * *

End of Chapter 8

**A/C: **Can Sonic, Merida and the heroes stop Mercilla before the kingdom is entirely destroyed by Mercilla's meddling? What will Eggman do to DunBroch once he reaches there? Find out in the next chapter.


	10. Chapter 9:New Arrivals in DunBroch

_DunBroch_

**((Youtube: watch?v=rzyZkHUWxNE starts playing))**

The huge battle that had been raging earlier in the afternoon was still continuing, with no hope of ever ending until one village leader stood victorious. Due to this, nearly half of each village had been trashed due to either arrow, catapult, or had simply collapsed due to some of the villagers ripping off pieces of building to use as a melee weapon. The battles in each village were forming up with one another, and altogether, their massive war was approaching the castle by the minute.

Currently battling amongst the villagers, mostly at the front of the battlefield, were the three lords. MacGuffin threw a punch at Macintosh, but the skinny and nimble lord evaded the attack. Dingwall was then turned around suddenly, which he saw was by Dingwall, but when the burly lord lifted up his kilt, the bearded lord covered his eyes in fear, shouting out in disgust as he stumbled backwards away. "Ahh! It's too horrible!" he shouted. Macintosh saw this as an opportunity and quickly scrambled over to the stumbling lord, leaping onto his back. "Long live the rule of Macintosh!" he shouted to the heavens.

**((Music stops))**

During this embarrassment of a scuffle, which was basically MacGuffin trying his best to remove Macintosh, who was pounding on his back in a very weak-looking way, Dingwall got some time to think as he watched the two dumbbells before him. That was when a sudden thought hit him. "Wait a minute," he said softly to himself before quickly looking at MacGuffin and Macintosh, who was now being sat on by the bearded lord. "Stop fighting you two dummies!" That remark caused the two lords to look up at him, enraging them to the point that they no longer cared about fighting one another. MacGuffin got off of Macintosh and charged at the white-haired lord, Macintosh by his side. Unfortunately, this charge didn't get them anywhere, because once they were close, Dingwall simply punched both of them, sending them back onto the ground. "Listen to me! I think I know why this whole war thing was started and who were the ones who started it."

"Who?" asked MacGuffin, a somewhat confused look on his face.

"The King and Queen. They sent those people to spread rumors about us to our people, just to get them to fight one another, which would get us to fight one another," Dingwall answered.

"But why would they do that?" asked Macintosh.

"Because they want to have no one opposing them in ruling DunBroch. They knew that if those rumors were spread, we would start a war, and they know how determined we all are, so they knew that we would probably all eliminate ourselves, and if one of us were still left, they would have simply taken that one lord out easily in his weakened state," Dingwall explained to them.

Macintosh gave him a confused look. "Don't they already rule DunBroch by themselves?"

"No, why do you think we're around? For our good looks?"

"Hah, if that were true, you wouldn't be around Dingwall," MacGuffin laughed, but all that got him was a thump over the head.

"Quiet! And to get back to the point, they need us to help make or pass things that effect the kingdom. Without us, they can do whatever they want and not have anyone checking over whatever they do," Dingwall continued.

"But if they did do this, then why would they make their rumor-spreaders tell bad things to say they said bad stuff about us?" MacGuffin asked as he rubbed his aching head.

"Because they didn't want to make their plan so obvious. If they wouldn't have said they said anything bad about us, it would make them seem suspicious," Macintosh answered for Dingwall. "They must have thought we'd be too stupid to figure it out!" he shouted angrily. "Guess the jokes on them now, isn't it?"

Macintosh and MacGuffin got off the ground and stood beside Dingwall, all them reunited to announce an attack on a new and now common foe. "Stop fighting! All of you!" the three lords shouted loudly, gaining the attention of the battling villagers behind them, which also made them stop immediately. This included a catapultist, who accidentally caused a large boulder to be launched when he stopped. The boulder slammed onto the ground close to Macintosh, causing the skinny lord to quickly leap into Dingwall's arms. "Sorry," the man shouted. "Get off me!" Dingwall said angrily before dropping Macintosh onto the ground.

"This whole battle was all caused by the King and Queen!" shouted MacGuffin. This caused all the villagers, who had now gathered around their lords, to murmur and talk amongst each other, until finally one spoke up. "But why?" asked one of the muscle-bound men. "Because, they want complete control over what goes on in this kingdom, and to have that complete control, they need to take out the three people who have the ability to overrule what they say... sometimes," Dingwall answered. "So to solve this problem, they decided to send people, most likely their servants or trusted guards in disguise, to spread lies, lies that caused this whole war to break out, just to eliminate us," Macintosh continued from where Dingwall had left off. "I think I know what we can do to solve this problem. We need to take this up close and personal to them, show them we aren't idiots and that when you mess with one lord, you mess with all of them... along with their villagers," MacGuffin finished. With their melee weapons held high in the sky, the three lords gave out a battle cry. "Advance on the castle!" The lords led the way to the castle, hundreds of angry villagers following.

In Merida's room, Mercilla watched in her 'Merida' guise with excitement brimming in her eyes. She was enjoying every moment of it, knowing that the more this whole war went on, the closer she got to the absolute rule she always wanted to have. '_I'm so close to being the ruler I can almost taste it!' _she thought excitedly. The sound of the three lords' war cry and their order to the villagers following them entered her ears, causing an evil smile to spread out on her face. The assumption that the three lords would eventually blame the King and Queen for this predicament, join up with one another, and defeat Fergus and Elinor, was proven true at that moment to Mercilla. '_Thank god for us having idiots for lords,' _she thought with a chuckle.

**((Youtube: watch?v=m32XuCyOfts starts playing))**

The battle mob of villagers had finally reached the entrance to the castle, taking out any guards who were unfortunate to get in their way. The catapults were wheeled into the right position, boulders were loaded onto them, and they were fired at the walls. The impacts of the boulders caused some minor dents on the sturdy brick wall the castle was built out of. Thankfully, none of the boulders were striking anywhere that villagers stood. Around the dents were chunks of boulder, ranging from huge to small sizes, were scattered along the ground. While this was going on, many of the other villagers were trying to bash their way inside with whatever they had on them, be it melee weapons or their own bodies, but even though a great number of people had slammed against the door, the wooden frame would not break nor budge.

Inside the castle, the reason for why their wooden entrance was hard to break down was because Fergus and Elinor had made a makeshift barricade out of whatever furniture they could find downstairs, along with Fergus having hammered on some strong wooden planks across the door. As they hurriedly pushed the last remaining furniture they had against the wooden barricade, they hoped it would keep the mad villagers out for a little while as they planed on what to do. They quickly retreated up the stairs and ran to their room, which were where Harris, Hubert and Hamish were located. As the sounds of the villagers' attempts at getting in grew more and more louder, they hunkered over their three boys and held them close protectively. "How did all of this happen?" Fergus asked himself, confusion and fear for his family's safety clear in his voice.

**((Music stops))**

The three Triplets looked at one another with nervousness, knowing they had to tell what they had heard last night. "Mommy, Daddy," they all began to say, which caused both his parents to shift their attention to them. "Merida caused this to happen," Hubert said.

Elinor sighed frustratedly. "Boys, this is not the time to point the blame to your sister."

"We're telling the truth," Harris said. "We heard her talking to herself in a strange voice last night, talking about how she could overthrow you and daddy, along with get rid of the three lords. She came up with the idea, which is going on right now." "We're telling the truth," all three of them said at the same time.

Elinor exchanged a nervous glance with her husband before turning back to they boys. Normally, they would hardly ever blame Merida for something that had happened. After a moment of silence, Elinor spoke to them. "You're certain?"

"Yes," they all said, no hint of doubt in their voices.

After another quick exchanged look between her and her husband, she turned back to her three sons, but it was Fergus who said something to them. "Stay here and keep down. Don't move for anything."

"Not even to potty?" asked Hamish.

"Yes, not even for that," Elinor said before creeping over to the door behind her husband when they passed by the room's window. Once out in the hallway, they went over to Merida's room and carefully opened the door, as to not alert their "daughter" to their presence, before creeping inside.

'Merida' watched the failed attempts of the villagers as they desperately tried to break into the castle. "Are none of these idiots strong enough to break down a simple wooden door?" she asked herself, agitated by how slow this was going.

Both Fergus' and Elinor's eyes widened in alarm, not able to believe what they had just heard. Not wanting to alert her to their presence just yet, they were forced to keep quiet.

With a sigh, 'Merida' turned to her bed, still not noticing Fergus and Elinor, and began to walk to it. "Looks like I'll have to take care of them myself." She got on her knees and stretched her hand out under the bed, feeling around for what she was looking for. Once she grasped what she wanted, she pulled it out, revealing an extra bow and an extra arrow case filled with arrows. As she got the arrow case on, she finally noticed the King and Queen in her room. "Mom, dad... what are you doing in here? You scared me you know..." she said, a little nervous due to the fact she had no idea how long they had been there.

"Who are you?" shouted Fergus.

**((Youtube: watch?v=Dfh5OmkH2es starts playing))**

With a smirk, 'Merida' laughed. "So you already know, do you? Well, now that you know I'm not really your stupid little daughter, I can't let anyone else know or you'll ruin my future." She quickly put an arrow in her bow and aimed it right at Fergus. "At least I'll be the one to take your lives, and not those idiots down there. And once I'm done with you, they'll be gone too. I'll make sure to it. And when they're dead, those three sons of yours will be the next to go."

Both Fergus and Elinor wanted to take out this imposter so badly, but were thwarted by the possibility of being killed by one of her arrows. '_I was so stupid to not have figured out that this Merida was a phony the minute she began acting different,' _Elinor thought to herself. '_But... if this isn't Merida... then where is my real daughter?' _

'Merida''s next sentence interrupted the thoughts of Elinor. "Now, who should I kill first?" She moved the point of the arrow back and forth between Fergus and Elinor, really thinking about which one she should kill first. She had an equal amount of hate for both of them, but in the end, she made up her mind. The point came to a stop in front of Fergus. "I think I'll kill you first. You were the one who prevented me from being ruler long before this ever happened," she said with a hiss, about to fire the arrow.

Suddenly, a flash of bright light caught 'Merida''s attention, turning her gaze over to the light's origin, which was at the far end of the castle's entrance. "What in the world is that?" With a mighty leap, Fergus slammed into 'Merida' and pinned her under his mighty body while Elinor looked out the window at the strange light.

**((Music stops))**

When the flash of light disappeared, Merida, Sonic, Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Tails, Knuckles, and Silver appeared in its place. "Wow, this place sure is trashed," Knuckles commented on the appearance of DunBroch's villages and the place as a whole. All around them were destroyed and smashed buildings in the villages, while the landscape had craters spread out all over the land.

Merida looked at all the devastation and destruction Mercilla's little plan had caused to happen to her once beautiful-looking kingdom, getting enraged. "Oh she is going to pay for this." As she turned her gaze over to the castle, she saw what appeared to be almost the whole kingdom's villagers surrounding the structure, trying to bash down the wooden door. While that was going on, boulders launched from catapults smashed into the walls, which were already straining to hold the massive building. Once she turned back to her allies, she said as she directed their attention to the mob of villagers. "Come on, we've got to stop them before they get to my parents!" Merida and Sonic led the group as they ran to the castle as fast as they could.

Due to the short distance from their position to the castle, their run didn't take long. Unfortunately, they couldn't get too close, since Merida could possibly be put in danger due to the mob's anger towards the royal family, but they were close enough so that the villagers could possibly hear their shouts. "Shout as loud as you can. The castle looks like it'll collapse if it takes any more hits," Merida commanded. She cupped both her hands to her cheeks and shouted "Stop fighting! Stop now!" as loud as she could.

Despite her shout, the villagers couldn't hear it over the sounds they themselves made, grunting as they tried to break down the wall, added with their slamming impacts they made as they hit the door.

"Shout with me, hurry!" Merida told the others. Sonic and the others began to shout 'Stop!' alongside Merida, but not even that could get the villagers' attentions.

"Allow me," Omega said as he walked forward, standing in front of the small group. As he raised both of his arms in an upward position, his hands retracted inside, causing his turret gun barrels to emerge. Then he began the firing. Hundreds and hundreds of lead-filled bullets streamed up into the air, creating a powerfully loud sound. Merida and the others covered their ears as Omega continued his song of destruction. After a few seconds of this, the villagers stopped what they were doing and turned to the source of the strange sound. As soon as he saw everyone's attention was on him, he lowered his arms and brought his hands back. He began walking back to Shadow and Rouge's side.

"Thank you," Merida said as she took her hands off her ears when Omega walked by her. Her focus then shifted to the villagers that were now staring at her with hate-filled eyes. "You all have been fooled by an evil witch named Mercilla. She has the ability to change form and use other forms of magic, and using her changing ability, she has taken my form and is using it to usurp the rule of my parents and your lords. Her plan is to kill my parents and your lords by making you all fight one another so that when the rulers of DunBroch are dead, she can be your new ruler."

What Merida said caused the villagers to discuss this possibility amongst each other, but suddenly, a loud shout came from Merida's room. "NOOO!"

Inside the room, 'Merida' quickly squirmed around underneath King Fergus' enormous body, trying her best to get out. Unable to get out in the form she was currently in, she quickly morphed into a snake, slithering out from under Fergus' bulk, before quickly morphing into a human-sized bat. Using her massive wings, she quickly flew out the window just as Fergus got back up. Mercilla's gaze fell upon Merida, causing her to hiss in anger. "You stupid little twit! I was so close, but then you had to show your face around here again, but I'm gonna make sure you never come back." Like a predatory bird, she swooped down from the sky and made a beeline to the princess. Back inside, Fergus and Elinor quickly ran downstairs, taking the Triplets with them. In Elinor's hands was the arrow case that Mercilla had from before. She was carrying it just in case Merida had ran out of arrows wherever she had been before all this.

**((Youtube: watch?v=5fQyhLMJGp4 starts playing))**

Merida quickly dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way, as did Sonic and the others when Mercilla flew by overhead. Mercilla made a turn around and flew at Merida once again, this time snagging the arrow case on her back. As she felt herself being lifted off the ground, she tried to get out of the arrow case's straps, but she was too far off the ground. As she looked up at Mercilla, she saw the bat looking back at her with her pupil-less eyes. "I'm going to make you wish you never had the idea to return here," Mercilla screeched. As Merida turned to look back on the ground, which was getting farther away by the minute, she saw Sonic running after them, bringing a smile to her face.

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=6_Z_vbcMR8s starts playing))**

"I don't think so Mercilla," Sonic shouted. The bat was close enough for Sonic to make a high jump and perform a Homing Attack on. As the blue hedgehog slammed into Mercilla, it caused her to drop Merida.

"No!" shouted Mercilla as Sonic slammed into her. The attack had caused Mercilla to be forced into a downwards position, and she was rapidly heading towards the forest. She managed to right herself, barely flying over the tops of the trees, and headed deep into the forest.

Sonic drifted down to Merida and caught her before they landed on the ground.

**((Music stops))**

Sonic gently let Merida back onto the ground. She smiled at him and said: "Thank you. Didn't expect you to catch me before we hit the ground."

"Hey, I couldn't let my friend go splat," Sonic said with a smile.

"I would hope not," she said with a smile. She walked over to where her arrow case had fallen and picked it up. "I'm going after Mercilla." With that, she began running to the forest, Sonic following her. When she caught sight of him following her, she turned around, facing him. "No, this is my fight. I want to fight her. She almost got my parents killed and turned my kingdom, my home, into a devastated land."

Sonic nodded understandingly before walking out of the forest. As he got to his friends, he saw the villagers coming over to them. Among them were Merida's parents.

"Merida, wait!" Elinor shouted out, seeing her daughter head into the forest. The teenage princess stopped and turned around, seeing her family standing there. With an eager smile she ran over to them and gave them a big hug. "I missed you all," Merida said, happy to finally see them again.

"Where were you while this was going on?" Fergus asked as he looked at his daughter with worry and concern.

Elinor then noticed Sonic and his friends standing there with them. "And who are they?"

"It's a long story, but I'll have to tell it later," Merida said as she started to head back into the forest.

"Merida," Elinor called out, causing her to stop and head back over once again.

"What is it mom?"

"You're going to need this," Elinor said, handing Merida the arrow case she had been carrying. Merida put her old case, which had the strap broken from when Mercilla snatched her up, and put it on the ground before taking the new case. "Thanks mom," she said, surprised that her mom would do something like this. She then looked at her mom, confused by her actions. "Why are you allowing me to do this?"

"Because you need to do this." She hugged her daughter and smiled. "Now go get that witch."

Merida smiled back and nodded. "I will, you can count on that." After the hug, she ran into the forest, ready to take down the witch that had both tricked and deceived her.

Just then, Macintosh, Dingwall and MacGuffin made their way to where Fergus and Elinor were, hoping they weren't too mad about what they had tried to do. "Um, we're sorry fer trying to kill you," MacGuffin said, his head hung down in shame.

"It's alright you three. You didn't know Merida wasn't really Merida," Fergus said, putting his hand on the lord's shoulder.

Macintosh saw Sonic and the others, puzzled by what they were. "What's with the weird-looking animals?"

Fergus and Elinor both shrugged their shoulders. "We have no idea," Elinor said.

"We're from the futu–" but before Sonic could continue his explanation of who and what they were, another white light flashed in the sky, causing everyone's gaze to be focused on that. Once the light faded, in its place was a large red and black airship.

"Oh no," Sonic said, knowing exactly who that ship belonged to.

**((Youtube: watch?v=gB_eXzRpfts starts to play))**

The Egg Carrier's underside opened, spilling tons and tons of numerous robots, all which were a part of the Eggman Empire. The robots landed right in front of the castle, quickly turning to the startled and confused villagers that watched the beings fall from the sky.

While the villagers tried to figure out what the thing floating in the sky was, along with what those metallic beings in front of the castle were, a loud, booming laughter echoed out of the Egg Carrier's speakers, spreading through the land. "Oh ho ho ho ho ho," laughed Dr. Eggman as the bottom bay doors closed.

**((Music stops))**

Hearing the sound to be familiar, a little boy pointed at the large ship, getting his mother's attention. "Mommy, it's Santa Claus."

Once Eggman heard that remark, he quickly grabbed the intercom mic and yelled into it. "I ain't Santa Claus, kid!"

"Then who are you?" Fergus asked.

"Who am I?" Eggman asked rhetorically before laughing evilly. "I'll tell you who I am." Suddenly, music started coming out of the speakers, causing Sonic to facepalm himself and mutter: "Oh brother," before Eggman started singing.

**((Youtube: watch?v=_1UUjVybkSk starts playing))**

_The story begins with who's gonna win_

_Knowin' the danger that lies within_

_Aboard this ship is a genius at heart_

_Wanting to unlock the mysteries of life._

_I am the Eggman, that's what I am_

_I am the Eggman, I got the master plan_

_I am the Eggman, that's what I am_

_I am the Eggman, with the master plan._

_I'm plotting my schemes wherever I go_

_They're perfect in every way_

_I'd love to destroy the blue one you know_

_He's an obstacle that always gets in my way._

_I must play this game by my rules_

_I will conquer the world with my tools_

_All my machines are made for destruction_

_I will build my empire_

_I will succeed and you will see_

_With my machines there is no retreat!_

(Eggman starts laughing evilly while Sonic, still covering his face, shakes his head in embarrassment, sad he even knows this guy)

_I am the Eggman, that's what I am_

_I am the Eggman, I got the master plan_

_I am the Eggman, that's what I am_

_I am the Eggman, I got the master plan_

(The villagers listen to this song in stunned silence)

_I am the enemy, I will succeed_

_My mission, yeah, I must complete_

_My name is Eggman, don't forget the name_

_If you ask me again, I'll tell you the same._

_I am the Eggman, that's what I am_

_I am the Eggman, I got the master plan_

_I am the Eggman, that's what I am_

_I am the Eggman, I got the master-master plan_

_I am the Eggman!_

**((Music stops))**

After a few seconds, many of the villagers started laughing, mainly because of how silly and ridiculous the name Eggman was to them. "What kind of name is Eggman?" asked one man as he laughed. "I bet he's round like an egg too," replied a woman. As Sonic listened and watched all the laughter, he knew that Eggman wouldn't be too thrilled about this, so he quickly got prepared for battle, just as his friends did the same thing.

"STOP LAUGHING AT MY NAME!" Eggman shouted angrily, slamming his fists against the console repeatedly, which could be heard through the speakers. The sound of his pounding almost immediately caused the villagers to cease laughing. "Attack, my army of machines! Show them what happens to people who insult my glorious name with laughter."

The vast arm of robots' eyes began to glow an evil shade of blue before they began their advance onto the people of DunBroch.

Shadow turned to the three lords and the king. "Rally your people into action because we'll need all the help we can get if you want to save both your kingdom and the people who live in it."

Listening to the black hedgehog, the three lords nodded and faced their people. "Villagers of DunBroch! Lets show these things what happens when invaders try to take over our land!" shouted Macintosh, raising his spear high into the air. The villagers gave a strong and fearful war cry and turned to face the oncoming army of machines.

"Why do you get to rally the people?" asked Dingwall.

"Because I'm the most suited," Macintosh replied.

This caused the two lords to start bickering about which one was the most suited to give the cry, all the while, the enemy advanced closer. Shadow, Fergus and MacGuffin all exchanged annoyed looks with one another before finally Shadow had had enough. "Quiet!" he shouted, getting the lords' attentions. "Who cares about who's the best suited, just lead them into battle!"

Under normal circumstances, Macintosh and Dingwall would have simply told Shadow to butt out and to mind his own business, but the angered and determined look in the black hedgehog's red eyes made them reconsider what they were going to say. They nodded quickly and made their way to the front of the villagers. MacGuffin, Shadow, Silver, Knuckles, Omega, Tails, and Rouge followed them. "Nice job, you actually managed to get them to stop arguing without having to use violence. You aren't that bad of a leader... for a hedgehog," MacGuffin commented.

"Eh, I'm just used to ordering people around. I don't tolerate anyone disobeying an order... unless it's for the good of the team," Shadow replied.

Fergus led his wife, children, and all the women and children in Highlandera over to a nice and safe area where they wouldn't be hurt. Sonic had accompanied him and was helping calm the nervous women. "I've got to go fight for our land now," Fergus said, giving his wife a hug. "I don't know if I'll make it back, but if I don't, never forget that I love you, and never would stop for anything in the world."

Elinor smiled at this and hugged her husband tightly. "Make it back alive. No matter what."

"Um, I'm sorry to interrupt this moment but... I don't think you're in a condition to go battle," Sonic said, causing both Fergus and Elinor to look at him.

Fergus was somewhat offended by this comment, thinking that Sonic meant to say that he was too old and weak to fight. "And what makes you think that blue hedgehog?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"Well, you have one leg and a peg for the other. I'm just worried you might not be able to handle fighting those things off. I've fought Eggman and his robots before and even though the look slow and heavy, they can be fast. I'm not trying to offend you or anything, I just want to make sure you'll be alright and everything." Sonic found this conversation to become increasingly awkward for some reason.

"Oh... well, no offense taken, but I think I can handle those things," Fergus replied with a smile, charging out with his sword drawn.

"Um... alright then," Sonic replied, quickly dashed off to join the battle with speed that surprised Elinor and everyone around them.

"He's a fast little critter ain't he?" Elinor commented, in which everyone nodded in agreement.

Back in the Egg Carrier, Eggman watched as the fight between DunBroch's warriors and his magnificent machines began, but as he was just about to sit back and relax, he saw something that he knew would instantly spell defeat for him: Sonic. The blue pest was running straight for the battlefield. "Oh no you don't Sonic!" he shouted loudly over the ship's speakers.

The sound of Sonic's name made his screech to a halt and looked up at the Egg Carrier. "What's that Egg-head up to?" He quickly changed direction and ran away from the battlefield and over to where the Egg Carrier hovered overhead. The massive airship had moved over to the castle, floating over a clear strip of land that wasn't too far from the castle itself.

Fergus watched as Sonic changed directions as he fought off some Egg Pawns. "What's he doing?" That was when he saw the bottom of the airship open back up, releasing a large, metallic object. "What on earth is that thing?"

**((Youtube: watch?v=UKY8eHTDCxY starts playing))**

Sonic watched as the large object fell towards him, but the hedgehog stood his ground. As the object got closer and closer to the ground, jet flames shot out from under its feet, slowing its descent. Once the robot landed, it instantly made a charge at Sonic, causing the nimble hedgehog to leap out of its way. As he turned to look at the robot, there it stood.

Its body resembled that of a theropod dinosaur, a Tyrannosaurus Rex to be exact. The flank of its body was a red color while its underbelly was gray. On each side of it's predatory head was the Eggman logo. Despite the arms of a regular T-Rex to be short and stubby, the arms on the robot were long and muscular, it's legs also looking muscular. Lining the inside of its mouth were sharp, metallic teeth. Its long tail slammed against the ground in a rhythmic pattern. Located on the front of the creature's forehead, just above it's yellow optics, was a cockpit dome, with non-other than Eggman sitting inside.

**((Music stops))**

"Ho ho ho ho ho ho," the evil genius began to laugh. "How do you like my newest creation, the Eggasaurus Rex, Sonic?"

"Looks somewhat impressive. It's a shame that I have to trash such a beaut," Sonic said sarcastically, a cocky smirk on his face.

"You won't be doing that this time, I–" but as Eggman started to continue talking, Sonic joined along, saying what Eggman was saying and matching it up perfectly as to how and when he said it. "am going to defeat you once and for all."

"I've heard it a million times already. Seriously, you need to come up with some new thing to say. Or a catchphrase," Sonic continued.

Eggman growled in annoyance, pressing an orange button on the console. It was time to squash an annoying little hedgehog once and for all. The robot's right hand retracted inside its wrist and a rope-tethered wrecking ball emerged. "Prepare to taste defeat."

Sonic smirked and got into a battle stance. "Let's dance."

* * *

End of Chapter 9

**A/C: **Yes, I just made Eggman sing his own theme XD It would be awesome if somewhere in the Sonic universe, Eggman had a chance to sing. In the next chapter, the villagers and heroes continue their battle against Eggman's army while Merida and Sonic deal to their own personal conflict. Stay tuned for more :)


	11. Chapter 10:The Battle Against Eggman

**((Youtube: watch?v=69nGneQICpA starts playing))**

The battle had begun. DunBroch's villagers were currently own against Eggman's robots. A large group of Slicers managed to hold off some villagers with their firing claws, but in no time flat, the villagers managed to reach the praying-mantis robots and break their bodies with their mighty maces.

Above the sky, Batbots, bat-like robots with a single wide, cylindrical light bulb underneath their bodies, were currently diving down ontop of people's heads, burning them with their light bulbs. Due to the intense heat the light bulbs gave off, many of the villagers had burn marks on their hair, but it wasn't hot enough to catch anyone's hair aflame. Soon, arrows filled the sky, taking out some of the pesky Bat-bots, but not all of them.

Back on the ground, Silver was currently dodging bombs that were being thrown by a group of eight Baby Kikis. The silver-white hedgehog was growing tired of this little dodging game and decided to take action. Using his psychokinesis, he levitated himself into the air, which caused the robot monkeys to change the aim of their throws, launching bombs into the air. Propelling himself upwards even more, Silver watched as the bombs that were meant to hit him rained down upon the Baby Kikis, destroying all but three of them. Quickly returning to the ground, Silver once again used his powers to catch the bombs the monkey-bots threw at him to return them back to their owners.  
MacGuffin and Dingwall were taking out some Egg Pawns, using only their fists. Despite the orange robots' metal bodies, the punches the lords threw weren't causing any pain on their fists. For the robots however, the punches left huge dents in their armor.

E-123 Omega was unloading lead onto as many Eggman robots as he could with every weapon in his arsenal. As robots exploded to his left and right, he felt truly happy. Stretched out in front of him were the shot up, blasted, and falling-apart machinery he had utterly wiped out.

Rouge and Tails were squaring off with some Rhino-Tanks as this was going on. The femme bat threw some of her bombs while Tails threw his exploding ring capsules. The combination of both their attacks put the threat of these rhino-based tanks to rest.

Elsewhere, another group of villagers were having difficulties with taking out some Buzz Bombers, who were currently raining stinger shots down onto them. The villagers retaliated by firing arrows at them, but the speedy wasp-bots would just simply dodge the arrows, continuing to fire their stinger shots once the air was freed from primitive projectiles. Suddenly, a black ball appeared seemingly out of nowhere and slammed into one of the Buzz Bombers, knocking it into one of its companions, sending both robots sailing towards the ground in a blaze of glory. Shadow uncurled himself and released a Chaos Blast out of his body, destroying the remaining Buzz Bombers.

Knuckles and Macintosh were currently fighting side-bye-side as they tangled with some Motobugs. Macintosh, spear in hand, stabbed into one of their heads, yanking the spear out and causing it to fall on its side, offline. Knuckles was simply punching whichever ones got too close to him. "You aren't that bad, for someone as skinny as you are," Knuckles commented as he delivered another approaching Motobug an uppercut to the face. "Neither are you," Macintosh replied, stabbing his spear into a Motobug's head.

As the battle raged on, more and more of Eggman's mechs began to fall, but as they fell, so did some of the villagers. A large group of Electric Spinners, which where almost identical to the regular Spinners in body frame, but had different colors and a different face, electrocuted a group of villagers, but their victory did not last for long, as they were quickly taken out by arrow fire. At the same time, a group of Shellcrackers were terrorizing another group, but were crushed under the weight of large boulders that were launched by catapults. Meanwhile, Fergus was taking out some Caterkillers. He'd either stomp on their heads with his peg-leg or slice into them with his sword.

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=aJQjaQ6A2zo starts playing))**

Sonic quickly ran at the Eggasaurus Rex, quickly performing a Sonic Boost as he slammed into the robot's right leg. Unable to keep balance, the robot teetered back and forth before falling on its side. As the blue hedgehog ran to the cockpit dome, the bot's head lunged forward and tried to bite him, but Sonic leaped over the mouth's gaping jaws and did a Homing Attack, smashing into the dome. Once landing on the ground, he put some distance between him and the robot. "This is going to be too easy," he remarked as the robot used its massive forearms to lift itself off the ground.

With a might swing of its right arm, the tethered wreck ball swung right for Sonic, but he easily dodged the attack and watched as the ball slammed into the ground right where he had once been. Standing only a few feet from the wrecking ball's position, Sonic started to taunt Eggman, making a figure eight with his feet as he ran in place. "Come on Eggman, step it up," he said before quickly leaping onto the wire connected to the massive ball. As he rapidly approached the cockpit once again, Eggman quickly pressed a blue button. "Oh no you don't." The robot's left hand retracted and in its place emerged a futuristic-looking gun barrel. The barrel aimed itself at the hedgehog. Sonic thought it was some sort of laser gun, prepared to jump when it fired, seeing how the inside of the barrel was glowing bright yellow. The barrel made a loud firing sound, causing Sonic to leap into the air to hopefully avoid the shot, but all he got was a yellow energy wave striking his chest, knocking him backwards.

Sonic slammed onto the ground hard. As he pushed himself back up, he grunted a little. "Oh that smarts." Eggman's laugh got his attention back onto the Eggasaurus, where he saw the wrecking ball rapidly approaching him. Sonic quickly leaped out of the way and watched as the wrecking ball slam onto where he once was. The giant ball started dragging back to the arm and once it was back into position, the large T-Rex robot charged forward. Sonic also ran forward, but once he reached the legs of the robot, he started to run around rapidly in a circle underneath it. As Sonic disappeared into a blue blur, a blue cyclone started forming, lifting the robot off the ground and putting it in it's swirling vortex. Eggman shouted in terror from the experience, covering his eyes with his hands. Soon the cyclone died, throwing the Eggasaurus Rex not too far from its original location. Once the large robot slammed onto the ground, Eggman removed his hands from his face, seeing no trace of Sonic anywhere in front of him. "Now where could that hedgehog be?" A sudden rapping on the cockpit's dome got the evil genius' attention, causing him to look to the source of the noise. Standing ontop of the dome was Sonic, who gave a quick wave to Eggman before slamming his foot down ontop of the dome, causing a big crack to form. '_He must have used the cyclone to reach the top of the robot. No matter, I'll get him off before he causes too much damage,' _Eggman thought as he controlled the robot to quickly push itself off the ground. This action caused Sonic to be forcefully launched from the top of the robot, but before he was launched too far away, Sonic curled himself up into a ball and launched a Homing Attack, slamming into the dome once again, creating another crack. Once Sonic landed on the ground, he once again put distance between him and the Eggasaurus Rex.

The robot roared angrily at the retreating blue hedgehog, but all of a sudden, Sonic doubled back, performing a Sonic Boost as he ran over to the robot's legs, trying to cause it to fall again. Unlike the last time, Eggman was prepared. Once Sonic was close enough, he maneuvered the robot into the right position and swung its mighty tail, which collided with Sonic. Sonic was sent sailing backwards a good distance away before slamming into the ground. The wind had been knocked out of him, but still he managed to get back on his feet, a little slower than the last time he took a hit from the robot. In a move which caused Eggman to laugh, the blue hedgehog quickly Sonic Boosted towards the robot once again.

"Stupid hedgehog, what makes you think that will work this time when it failed the last?" As Sonic got close again, the Eggasaurus' tail swung, but instead of knocking Sonic, the blue hedgehog leaped into the air, curled into a ball as he still did the Sonic Boost, and slice through the halfway point of the tail. As Sonic landed on the ground in a kneeling position, the tail slammed onto the ground with a massive thud. Sonic turned back to the robot just as the robot turned to face him.

"Ohhhhhh now I'm mad!" growled Eggman. As soon as Sonic began his charge towards the robot, the Eggasaurus' mouth began glowing with a dark purple light, which turned into a beam that struck the ground right in front of Sonic, causing him to screech to a halt. He didn't stay motionless for long, because a second later he took off again just as a purple beam struck the ground where he once stood. As Sonic continued running, three more beams were fired at him, but he dodged them all effortlessly before reaching the robot's legs. Sonic rolled out of the way as he dodged a kick and performed a backflip, dodging the wrecking ball as the robot's right hand brought it down ontop of him. Sonic leaped onto the ball and ran up the arm, but before Eggman could even fire his wave gun, he was at the cockpit, leaping into the air and curled into a ball. After attacking it with a Spin Attack, he quickly leaped off and put some distance between him and the robot as he had done before.

**((Music pauses))**

Merida was running through the forest, rapidly searching for Mercilla. She was on the right trail, seeing broken tree branches hanging only by a slim strip of wood on the trees, leaves scattered around on the ground below and snapped tree limbs laying all around. Once she came out of the forest, she stood before what appeared to be a large clearing filled with ancient ruin structures. The structures were made completely out of stone and they towered over everything before them. As Merida marveled at them, she failed to notice a black-colored animal approaching her from her right.

"So, you finally found me," Mercilla's voice said, causing Merida to spin around to its source, seeing a rather large black bear standing a good distance away. She quickly grabbed an arrow, sliding it into the bow and aimed it at the bear. It wasn't long before she realized that this was the bear, called Mor'du by the ancient legends that surrounded the bear in mystery, that had taken her father's leg those many years ago. "So you were the bear that attacked my dad." Now she was mad.

"Yes, and once I'm through with you, I'm going to have to have a little rematch with him, and I'm sure it won't turn out like how it did the last time," Mercilla taunted.

**((Youtube: watch?v=lHuEtxZTcz4 starts playing))**

That did it. Merida angrily fired off the bow, sending it plunging into the black bear's left shoulder. As Merida rushed to put another arrow in her bow, Mordu roared angrily and yanked out the arrow before charging on all fours at the red-haired princess. Merida quickly rolled out of the way of the incoming bear, turning around quick enough to put two arrows into Mor'du's backside.

The black bear howled as it rose to her feet, trying to move her arms back to try and rip out the arrows embedded there, but all that did was give Merida some clear shots at her now visible underbelly. As the arrows stabbed into her, Mor'du teetered backwards, nearly falling, but as she tried righting herself, two more arrows stabbed into her, sending the bear onto her back. The arrows there plunged themselves deeper, causing Mor'du great pain, which was evident in her howl. As she rolled over to get back on her feet, more arrows plunged into her, but she shrugged those off. Once back on her feet, she charged at Merida, interrupting the princess from firing off another arrow.

Merida rolled out of the way, but was taken by surprise once Mor'du made a quick turn, taking a swipe at her with her massive paw. Merida rolled out of the way again, leaping back to avoid being chomped on by massive bear jaws. This close-quarters combat jig wasn't working in her favor. Lunging forward, arrow in hand, she stabbed it into the bear's side and tried to swing herself up, but Mor'du swung her body to the right quickly, sending Merida sailing away onto the ground. Her senses regained, she saw Mor'du charging at her once again, but she quickly grabbed her bow and fired an arrow at the bear, just as she was bearing down on the princess. As luck would have it, that arrow plunged right into the bear's neck, instantly halting her charge.

Merida got back to her feet as Mor'du gasped for air and pulled at the arrow lodged into her neck. She ran to the ruins, trying to find a place for her to quickly catch her breath. As she rounded one of the stone structures, she managed to catch a glimpse of Mor'du removing the arrow and coming right for her. "Okay Merida, gotta find something to use or she's going to get me," she muttered as her eyes searched desperately for something she could use. She saw where Mor'du was running to, seeing her approach a single standing structure, giving her an idea. As the black bear got closer, she studied the stone for any structural weaknesses, finding a large crack in its side. She waited for the bear to get closer before firing an arrow right at that crack.

**((Music stops))**

Mor'du saw the arrow shoot past her, embedding itself into the stone beside her. "Ha, missed me."

"Wasn't aiming for you."

Mor'du, confused by this, turned to the structure beside her, seeing the crack in its side growing larger before the upper half broke loose, falling ontop of her. The stone, slammed against the black bear's backside, sending it straight to the ground where it laid, trapping her. All she could do was watch as Merida approached her cautiously, an arrow in her bow aimed right at her face. With a beastly growl she snarled at the princess. "Curse you Merida. Curse you and everyone in your family. Too bad your luck has run to an end." With that, Mor'du disappeared in a flash of purple light, causing the stone to fall to the ground.

Merida searched for where the black bear could have gone before a purple flash of light caught her attention. Appearing out of the light was the bat that had attacked her before in the kingdom. Mercilla had once again changed forms, using the bat to retreat back to the kingdom, possibly to harm her friends or her family. She wouldn't let that evil witch do that. She quickly ran after her, firing arrows at the bat, but the bat was more maneuverable than she expected it to be. As the bat dodged each arrow, the two were quickly returning to the kingdom.

**((Youtube: watch?v=aJQjaQ6A2zo continues from where it was paused))**

Back at DunBroch, the villagers were winning in the fight against Eggman's mechs. Many of the robots had been scattered across the land, battered and broke. With only a few robots out of the once grand army remaining, the majority of the people were watching the battle that was taking place between Sonic and the Eggasaurus Rex.

Currently, Sonic was dodging some of the Eggasaurus' missiles that were being launched from its shoulder cannons. Using these missiles as a chance to get close to the cockpit dome, Sonic performed a series of Homing Attacks on the missiles, sending him straight to the dome. Once reaching the dome, he did one final Homing Attack, causing another crack to be formed as he approached the ground.

Inside the cockpit, Eggman noticed the rapidly falling power levels of the robot. Sonic's repeated attacks had caused this, like many of his other machines' failures in the past and Eggman wasn't going to let it happen again. "Divert all power from the mouth laser to the power core." He said as he punched in the commands to do so. By doing this, he failed to notice an approaching blue blur before it was too late. "Noooooo!"

Sonic quickly slammed into the robot's right leg, causing the powerful machine to topple over on its left side, slamming onto the ground once again. Sonic watched something strange happening to the robot, due to its releasing of many sparks and small explosions.

**((Music stops))**

Sonic's attack during the power transfer had caused a rupture in the fuel lines that connected and flowed power through every part of the robot's body. With no place to go, the highly unstable energy was going everywhere inside, landing on the hot interior mechanical equipment, resulting in multiple explosions which were tearing the robot's insides apart. Eggman could feel the explosions occurring in his cockpit. All over his scanners, the power levels of the machine dropped to zero and everything was non-operational. "Curse that darn hedgehog!" he shouted as he slammed his fists against the console repeatedly.

The robot hadn't moved for over a few minutes, which caused the villagers to excitedly cheer at the defeat and failure of Eggman's takeover of DunBroch. Both the evil genius' robot army and giant robot had been defeated, giving nothing for the villagers to fear from him. "So much for the impressive Eggman," MacGuffin sneered.

Not too far away, Mercilla had seen the defeat of the mysterious new invader and his army of weird minions. She simply flapped there, pondering her next move. Should she commander that thing for her own use or just stay in this weak form? As she thought about how she could make that thing more suitable for her own use, an arrow sped past her, barely nicking her side. She looked down and saw that Merida was almost underneath her, so she started to fly to the machine, her mind made up. An arrow streaked through the air and sliced through her right wing's membrane, leaving a medium-sized hole. She screeched in pain and increased her speed as more arrows came her way.

Seeing where the witch-bat was heading to, seeing Sonic and a giant metal robot, Merida ran over to her blue friend, glancing back at Mercilla to keep an eye on her every couple of feet.

"Did you get Mercilla?" Sonic asked once Merida had joined his side.

"No. She's right there and she's headed for that thing," she replied, pointing to the large bat that had now perched atop the Eggasaurus Rex.

With a cackling laugh, Mercilla's bat form dispersed into a purple mist which spread out all over the Eggasaurus Rex's body. When all of the mist enveloped and entered the robot, it began shaking violently.

"What the heck?" Eggman shouted, looking all around his cockpit and on the console readings for the cause of the violent shaking. All of a sudden, the dome opened up and the seat he was in launched the round man up into the air. As he flew through the air, screaming loudly, he could have sworn he heard someone tell him they were now taking over.

Everyone saw Eggman's ejection, some laughing at the doctor's situation, some pointing at the now pulsating form of the Eggasaurus Rex. Strange energies had swarmed all over the robot's body, which soon began to transform into something else. Eggman fell in front of Sonic and his friends, who looked at the man with somewhat angered looks. Eggman rubbed his behind before noticing Sonic and the others.

"So Eggman, you plan to blow us all up or did your machine not like you and told you to take a hike?" Sonic remarked.

"I didn't do anything. Something forced me out," Eggman answered as he got back on his feet.

"Mercilla did that. She's probably taking over that thing with some of her magic," Merida told them.

**((Youtube: watch?v=SWjHOkda6VQ starts playing))**

Before Eggman could remark about how magic wasn't real and how her claim seemed absurd, a loud and familiar roar brought everyone's attentions back onto the Eggasaurus Rex. The machine was back on its feet, still looking beaten up. Wires shot out of its broken tail, colliding with the end piece to the broken end, re-attaching itself as it withdrew the cables. That was only the start of its transformation.

The robot's neck started to extend further away from its body, creating a long neck with spikes that had just emerged from its head all the way down its neck, stopping once it reached the base of the long neck. The claws on its fingers and toes became sharper than they were before, as did the teeth in its mouth. Its eyes changed from yellow to blood red while its body formed purple-black organic skin. The wrecking ball on its right arm grew spikes all over it, now making it a flail, while the gun barrel on its left arm morphed into the blade of a fine sword. The end of the tail morphed into a mace ball. With the robot's transformation now complete, Mercilla's voice laughed out of its hideous-looking mouth. "Such amazing power. I feel like I could take on a whole army!" Her gaze then fell upon Merida. "Now you and your father, as well as your troublesome friends, shall pay." With a monstrous roar, Egg-Mordu charged at the group, causing many of the villagers assorted in them to scatter in various directions.

As Sonic and the others made their own getaway, they evaded the technorganic's charge and went over to where the women and children were. As Egg-Mordu began trashing many of the still-standing buildings in the village, thinking that her targets had hidden in them, Sonic and the others started talking about what to do.

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=tzepfyx-ELI starts playing))**

"I thought I destroyed that thing's insides," Sonic said, confused. Normally when something of Eggman's had been trashed internally it stayed trashed.

"Mercilla must have used some of her... magic, to repair the inner workings," Eggman said. He didn't like saying that magic, which he still sort of didn't believe in, had been the cause of this new monster's emergence, but there really wasn't any other thing to point to. He moved a piece of his glasses, using its scanner to get a readout of the monster. "That thing is too powerful for any villager attack or regular attack." Eggman turned to Shadow. "Do you still have the Chaos Emeralds?"

Shadow nodded, pulling out the seven mystical emeralds.

"Sonic is our only chance of stopping this thing."

Sonic stepped forward, eager to take this thing on. "Oh yeah. I've been wanting to take on that Mercilla person in a fight for some time now." He took the seven emeralds and laid them around him in a circle, but before he could do anything, Merida walked into the circle, standing next to him. "I'm helping you," she said, looking determined.

"Merida, get out of there now!" Elinor shouted. "If you go you'll get yourself killed."

"No! This is my fight now. She hurt dad and caused all of this to happen. I'm going to stop her and there's neither a thing you can do about it!"

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=3kaP9-FD6N8 starts playing))**

Elinor didn't reply, knowing that nothing she could ever say would change her daughter's mind about this. "Fine, but come here first."

Merida walked over, only to be given a tight hug by both her mom and dad.

"You better come back when this is done," Elinor said, some tears coming down her face.

"I will mom. I promise," Merida said, smiling at her mom. "Now I got to go." She got back into the circle of emeralds.

**((Music stops))**

"Are you sure about this?" Sonic asked, concerned for Merida's safety.

"Positive."

**((Youtube: watch?v=PKc0xfig_7w starts playing))**

At that point, Egg-Mordu had spotted them just as she was about to smash a building under her foot. Growling at how stupid she had been to not notice them being over there this whole time, she used that anger to increase her speed as she ran over to them. Her thunderous footfalls got the attention of Knuckles, who turned to Sonic and Merida. "You two might wanna hurry it up."

Sonic closed his eyes, which Merida did, following Sonic's every move. The emeralds around their feet started spinning, lifting off the ground, and bathed them in a rainbow mix of lights as they rapidly spun around the two. The next moment, all seven emeralds entered their bodies, causing the forms of Sonic and Merida to begin a transformation of their own.

Sonic's fur changed from blue to yellow, a golden glow surrounding his body. His head quills raised upwards, appearing like how Shadow's were. His once green eyes changed to red, completing his transformation.

Merida also gained a golden glow around herself, which matched with her golden robe. Her hair had straightened, now a glossy, brighter shade of red. Her bow was now golden, as were some of the arrows in her arrow case. Once her eyes turned from blue to orange-red, she was now Super Merida.

Everyone looked at Merida in amazement at her new super form, but that amazement was now interrupted by the footfalls of Egg-Mordu approaching the group.

"Get to cover now. We'll handle this," Sonic said.

As everyone ran to safety, both Super Sonic and Merida leaped into the air and quickly shot forward, leaving behind a golden streak as they zoomed towards Egg-Mordu.

**((Music ends))**

* * *

End of Chapter 10

**A/C: **Exciting ending. The reason I chose a dinosaur for Eggman's newest creation was because, he never made a robot dinosaur, at least I don't think (I did some searches on Sonic Wiki and found nothing that said he ever made one). When I first thought of the Eggasaurus Rex, the first thing that popped into my head was Transmetal Megatron from Beast Wars XD The reason for Merida having a super form is because if I gave Rapunzel one, why not give Merida one? Anyways, in the next chapter, Super Sonic and Super Merida fight Egg-Mor'du, with a little help from... Eggman? Stay tuned.


	12. Chapter 11:A Super Sonic Fight

**((Youtube: watch?v=VI18sDj_v9c starts playing, beggining at 1:37[Youtube video time]))**

As the two super-beings flew at Egg-Mor'du, their physical forms couldn't be seen due to the intense velocity they were flying at. All that showed were two golden streaks of light. Merida was amazed at the speed she was currently traveling at. She had never ever gone this fast before, and most likely would never do so again, so she made the most of it. "Have you gone this fast before?" she asked Sonic.

"I've gone faster. The Chaos Emeralds have increased everything in our bodies so we're a whole lot stronger than what we normally are," he replied.

Despite their incredibly fast speed, Egg-Mor'du managed to successfully swipe them out of the air with one smack of her flailed hand. As the two golden beings rapidly approached the ground, the managed to land on their feet, but the momentum slid them backwards. once stopping, they immediately took to the air once again, dodging a swing from the flail on the way. After dodging another swing, Super Sonic and Super Merida flew up and behind Egg-Mor'du. "We need to take out its legs. It'll be more easier to take down," Sonic explained. At that moment, Egg-Mor'du turned herself to face them, roaring at them. They both evaded a stream of pure fire that erupted out of the beast's mouth before forming up alongside one another on the ground.

"You distract her while I take out the legs," Sonic said, streaking off for the legs. Merida flew up and got in the creature's face, which turned out to be an unwise move. True, it did distract her, but it almost got her eaten. The monstrous head lunged at the super girl, narrowly eating her if it wasn't for Merida's quick movements. After dodging another bite lunge, Super Merida quickly reached into her arrow case and pulled out a steel arrow, which were also assorted in the case of golden arrows. As she readied the arrow, Egg-Mor'du released a stream of fire from her mouth, but Merida was quick enough to dodge it. With a quick fire of her bow, the silver-coated arrow streaked towards the monster's face, stabbing into her right eye. With a howling cry, Egg-Mordu took a swipe at the girl with her sword blade, but Merida evaded it.

On ground level, Super Sonic was rapidly approaching the right leg. He had to build up enough speed, considering he wanted to knock both legs off from the body. As he sped along the ground, dust parted from either side of him, spraying the ground with itself. Unfortunately, despite having only one eye, Egg-Mor'du spotted the approaching golden streak of light on the ground and swung her tail, smacking Sonic away with the spiked ball end. With a grunt of pain, Super Sonic was sent skywards. As Super Merida quickly flew to catch him, the beast below them bellowed. "Did you really expect me to be taken off-guard by the likes of you? I have many eyes in this form so I can see all."

"You alright?" Merida asked as she stopped Super Sonic's forward momentum.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Suddenly, what he saw caused him to shout: "Watch out!" He quickly grabbed Super Merida's arm and dashed her out of the way just as a stream of fire rushed past where they originally were. Both of them decided to make a bee-line, hoping to circle around Egg-Mor'du quick enough to make a quick attack, but had to veer up because of the swipe from the monster's sword blade.

As Super Merida veered to the right of Egg-Mor'du, she quickly gripped her bow and used her free hand to grab an arrow from her case, this one also silver-coated, and loaded it in. As Merida flew up behind Egg-Mor'du, dodging the swipes from her mace tail, she flew around to the front of the head, firing the silver arrow at her nose. A howl of agitation came out from Egg-Mor'du's maw.

Quickly, the technorganic monster morphed her right hand from a flail to a clawed, four-fingered hand and pulled out the arrow, but that gave Super Sonic an opening to attack. With a burst of speed, he streaked through the arm, slicing it clean off. Before Egg-Mor'du realized what had happened to her arm, it had already fell to the ground with a thump. "You are going to pay for that dearly you annoying hedgehog!" she roared at Super Sonic. Her sword arm extended outwards, heading towards Super Sonic. The golden hedgehog managed to dodge the first slash, but had dodged into the swing of the second slash.

Before anything happened, another golden form sped by the seemingly doomed hedgehog and slammed into the arm, retracting it. "Not today!" shouted Merida as she quickly fired another silver arrow. The arrow plunged into the wounded right eye, causing Egg-Mor'du tons of pain. With an aggravated roar, she backhanded Super Merida away with the side of her sword, knocking her into Super Sonic.

"Good bye you troublesome fools!" Egg-Mor'du's mouth opened and a fireball shot out, followed by another one.

Super Merida quickly got out another silver arrow and fired it at the fireballs. The arrow amazingly went through both balls, causing them to implode, and sped towards Egg-Mor'du, striking the side of her neck. As Egg-Mor'du pulled the arrow out of her neck, Merida turned to Sonic. "At least we got her arm off," she said as she breathed hard. She wasn't used to all this action and extremely fast moving. Sonic nodded. He was slowly getting tired, but he hardly felt it.

The sound of emerging wires caught their attention. Out of Egg-Mor'du's stump came wires which re-attached themselves to the sliced off arm, pulling it back once the repairs were made to it.

"I shouldn't have said anything," Merida remarked as they watched this. Suddenly, Egg-Mor'du simply vanished into thin air, well a purple light really.

"Where did she go?" Sonic asked as both he and Merida looked around for where that creature could now be.

That question answered itself when Egg-Mor'du reappeared behind them, slamming her forehead against them before roaring a spine-tingling howl of death. Despite their rough landing, both super beings weren't out of the fight yet and weren't ready to accept defeat, not that they believed they would be defeated. They attempted to get back into the air, but with Egg-Mor'du basically ontop of them, it was sorta impossible at the moment. Super Sonic tried to dash out the giant's way, but a stream of flames stopped that plan. Super Merida tried to go the other way, but Egg-Mor'du stopped that too. The giant monster stepped back and began unleashing streams of fire around them, trapping them in a ring of it.

Now without Egg-Mor'du standing over them, they had a better chance to get out of the fire ring, but that was thwarted when the technorganic beast raised her arms and hands into the air, causing the ring's flames to rise with them before some hand movements from Egg-Mor'du caused the flames to block off the top entrance. Super Sonic and Super Merida were now trapped in the ring, the flames inside closing in all around them by the minute.

**((Music pauses))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=VI18sDj_v9c starts playing but this time starting at the beginning of the video))**

Fergus, Elinor, and all the rest watched as Egg-Mor'du's fire ring completely trapped off their only chance for survival. Elinor, frantic and extremely worried about her daughter, turned to Sonic's friends. "Can't any of you do something to help them? They're going to be burned to death!"

Shadow sighed, shaking his head. "You saw what that thing can now do, and who knows what other powers it has. None of us would last a minute against that thing. Only Sonic and your daughter can stop this thing due to them having the power of the Chaos Emeralds."

The queen turned to Dr. Eggman. "You must have some weird and strong thing that could at least distract that thing."

"Why should I help out any of you? That thing is going to do what I had originally intended to do, along with taking out that nuisance of a hedgehog Sonic. As far as I can see, that thing is technically doing my job for me," Eggman replied. As soon as he heard the angery growls of all the kingdom's warriors, added with the growls of the now approaching king and three lords, made Eggman quickly change his mind. "But, but," he stuttered, making everyone stop to hear him out. "I also have no way of reaching my Egg Carrier since my Egg-Mobile is currently inside that creature. If I did, I would gladly help out all you nice people," he said with a nervous laugh.

Fergus soon had a smile on his face. "Oh don't worry Eggman, I have a way for you to reach your wee Egg Carrier. Bring in the catapult!"

Eggman's face soon filled with fear and dread as he heard what the king had just suggested. "Catapult?"

Soon the catapult was brought into place and Eggman sitting on the launcher. The catapult was in trajectory to the Egg Carrier, which Omega had helped make. The robot also explained how the trajectory would send Eggman right into the vessel's open drop bay, allowing him to go to the cockpit.

"You ready Eggman?" asked Fergus.

"No, not really," Eggman replied, still nervous about how this plan could fail, ending in his death.

"Oh well. LAUNCH HIM!"

With a might snap of rope, the catapult launched Eggman very high into the air. True to Omega's predictions, Eggman sailed right into the Egg Carrier's drop bay, screaming loudly in fear before landing on the steel floor. With a groan, Eggman got back on his feet and rubbed his stomach before dashing off to the carrier's cockpit.

**((Music stops at 1:36 on the Youtube video))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=VI18sDj_v9c starts playing again, from where it left off during the fight between Super Sonic, Super Merida, and Egg-Mor'du))**

The fire that entrapped Super Sonic and Super Merida was closing in around them, almost about crush their bodies in the burning walls. The heat was intense, but thanks to their super forms, they were able to stand the intense heat. They were continuously trying to break through the fire, but the strength of the flames was far greater than they were.

Outside the fire vortex of doom, Egg-Mor'du laughed evilly, eagerly awaiting the demise of both her foes. She was controlling the flames with her mind, and despite the heroes attempts at getting out were causing some distress in her brain, she still concentrated on keeping her attack up. Due to her intense concentration, she failed to notice the large and looming Egg Carrier that flew over head. As its shadow fell upon her, it caused her to turn her massive head, but it was already too late. Missile batteries opened fire on her, raining the warheads down onto her massive form. That did it, her concentration was now broken, causing the flame walls to fall, releasing Super Sonic and Super Merida.

The two heroes watched as the Egg Carrier continued its missile assault on Egg-Mor'du, wondering what was going on. "Is Eggman... saving us?" Merida asked as she looked at Sonic with a confused look.

"I think it is," he replied. At least Eggman was helping them. If they would have been in there for much longer, he was sure that they would probably have taken so much damage, they wouldn't have been able to stay in there super forms. Sonic cringed at the idea of being burned to death, but that was shaken off after what he saw happen.

After being under heavy fire for a few moments, which had taken her by surprise, Egg-Mor'du swung her sword blade up into the air as she extended the limb, slicing a good chunk of the airship off. Although it was a good sized chunk, the flying vessel was still able to maintain air, and flew off into the distance before coming back, missiles firing from it. Egg-Mor'du struggled to dodge the projectiles, but her bulky and cumbersome body wasn't too good at dodging fast-moving objects. Pieces of her organic skin were scattered across the ground, even more starting to join those pieces, revealing the original robot's colors underneath. Using the last of her waning strength, she teleported out of firing range, reappearing right under the vessel. With a mighty thrust of her right arm, the flail at the end slammed into the underside of the Egg Carrier, sending it into a downwards spiral.

Inside the spiraling Egg Carrier, Eggman quickly ran out of the cockpit and into the nearest hanger. He wasn't going to go down with the ship. He had to live to fight Sonic another day, and more importantly, this wasn't how he planned his death. Getting into one of his spare Egg-Mobiles, Eggman flew out of the now permanently opened bottom bay doors to make his escape, flying back over to where the villagers of DunBroch were, hoping that beast outside wouldn't spot his tiny craft. As the Egg-Mobile flew to the ground, the Egg Carrier slammed into it, exploding into millions of pieces.

Super Sonic and Super Merida watched this in stunned silence. "Do you... you think Eggman's... dead?" Merida asked, surprised that she was actually sad by the doctor's passing, despite all that she had heard he had done to the planet over the past years in Sonic's time.

"I'm sure of it. He's a slippery one, and he doesn't go away easily," Sonic replied. "Now lets finish this thing off." With a burst of speed that surprised Merida, Sonic took off at Egg-Mor'du. Super Merida quickly joined his side, not wanting her friend to have all the fun.

Egg-Mordu watched as the massive airship slammed into the ground, causing a nauseating laugh to come out of her maw. "With that little pest out of the way, it's time to take on those two golden–" but she was interrupted by a golden streak slicing off her right arm again, replacing her talking with screaming in pain. She saw the form of Super Sonic floating right in front of her, aggravating her further. She swung at the hedgehog with her remaining hand, almost cutting him in half with her sword blade, but another golden streak sliced through that arm too, causing an even more anguished scream to come out of her mouth. Then, in front of her eyes, came Super Merida. Filled with nothing but rage and hatred now, Egg-Mor'du lunged her mouth forward and tried to bite down on the super girl.

Merida dashed downwards, avoiding the mouth completely. She pulled out a golden arrow from her case and quickly put it into the bow, firing it straight at the beast's stomach. The arrow stabbed into the gut, causing only a minor grunt from Egg-Mor'du, but the arrow then exploded. As the giant robot-organic howled in annoyance and pain, three more arrows stabbed into her chest, all of them exploding at the same time. Skin was sent flying everywhere, revealing the metal underneath. Super Merida flew up, right in Egg-Mor'du's face and gave her own growl. "Time for you to pay." With that, she fired a golden arrow straight into left eye. After quickly dashing back a few feet, the arrow exploded, taking out the eye.

Egg-Mor'du's howl of pain washed over the land. "MY EYE! YOU TOOK OUT MY EYE!" Suddenly, a golden streaked smashed through her right eye, taking it out in an explosion.

"Correction. We just took out your eyes," Sonic said in amusement, giving Super Merida a high five. They knew they were going to beat her now.

Egg-Mor'du stumbled around, swinging the stumps that used to hold her arms around wildly, trying to do everything she could to reverse the tide of this battle back to her favor, but was currently unable to do it. "I'm blind! I will get you Merida, you and your stupid hedgehog friend, no matter what, I'll do it!" She angrily thrashed her tail around, believing they had returned to the ground to make an attempt at knocking her legs off.

Super Sonic turned to Merida with a smile. "Time for the big finale. I remember seeing some explosions inside that thing when Eggman was controlling it, so if we can cause that power core inside it to explode again, we might just beat her."

Super Merida nodded, knowing what she had to do. She took off towards the beast, watching her swing the enormous body she possessed around everywhere, intent on believing they were coming from everywhere. She pulled her bow back, already loaded with a golden arrow, and fired it at the place a human heart would be, if this creature even had one, before firing five more arrows around the spot. As the arrows exploded, they opened up the insides of the beast, not to mention cause pain for Egg-Mor'du.

The slowly dying technorganic monster stumbled backwards from the explosion. She was still swinging her tail around, trying to smack either of her enemies from the sky, but all it did was cause her to trip stumble into it. With a loud clang her body fell to the ground. As she laid there, she knew it was only a matter of time before her defeat. She couldn't do anything except lay there. She felt more arrows pierce her stomach, exploding as they revealed more and more of her insides.

Super Sonic saw that the explosions had finally revealed the power core inside the technorganic machinery. "Merida, that's enough. I'll take it from here," he shouted to her and sped forward, heading straight for the core.

She had to do something. She couldn't just lay there and let a hedgehog and a girl ruin her scheme. Egg-Mor'du leaned her head forward and started snapping her jaws everywhere she could. Super Sonic easily dodged these snaps, heading straight to the core. He began his Spin Dash rev, causing great and horrendous pain for Egg-Mor'du.

Super Merida floated outside, her ears being covered by her hands. Even though she didn't have to fear being eaten or bitten by the dinosaurian head, she did have to worry about losing her hearing due to the loud screams the robot-dino was releasing. "Sonic! My turn."

Super Sonic uncurled himself and saw his friend waiting outside. "Sure thing." He flew out of the chamber and floated by his friend, waiting for her to finish this thing off for good.

"Goodbye forever," was all Merida said before firing her last golden arrow at Egg-Mor'du's power core, bulls-eyeing it. Both super beings flew as fast as they could to get away from it before the inevitable happened. As Egg-Mor'du howled in pain, it was cut short by the massive explosion that erupted from her core, ending the life of the machine beast.

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=cFcv9gXu2xY starts playing))**

The sound of the explosion rang out through the highlands, signaling the end of Egg-Mor'du. All around, the villagers cheered in glee and happiness as the terror of the beast has been subdued, all thanks to two very special heroes. As everyone celebrates the victory Sonic and Merida accomplished, Eggman's Egg-Mobile lands in the center, almost immediately causing the cheering to stop. As the top dome opened up, Eggman leaped out of the machine and looked at everyone. "What, I helped stop that thing too you know."

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=pxqw7LdEdnw starts playing))**

Luckily for Eggman, he wasn't what they were all staring at. It was the arrival of Super Sonic and Super Merida. The two super heroes landed close by to Eggman, but mainly around all of Sonic's friends and Merida's family. As soon as they landed, the seven Chaos Emeralds emerged from their bodies and gently laid on the ground, forming a circle once more. Almost immediately they were swarmed with happy villagers, each one wanting to personally thank them for what they did. Shouts of praise and gratitude for their accomplishment came from the mass crowd, causing Merida to feel very proud of herself. She looked for where her family was in the sea of people, but a tap on the shoulder caused her to turn around and see them, all happy she was alright and safe. She hugged them all tightly, happy to see they were alright too. "I'm so sorry for causing all of this," she said as she looked at her mother and father.

"This wasn't all of your fault Merida. It was mainly all that evil witch Mercilla's fault," Fergus told her. "But you still caused her to come here and let her take your place. I'm sorry I couldn't figure out she wasn't really you from the start."

**((Music stops))**

A sound of someone moving aside metal caused everyone's gaze to fall upon the wreckage of Egg-Mor'du, and after a few moments passed, the sound had come from Mercilla as she dug her way out of the twisted, broken machinery. Her strength had left her after that final attack from Super Merida. She was amazed she had enough to get herself out of the wreckage. She was banged up badly and was more tired than she had ever been before in her life, which was evident when she collapsed to the ground, laying on her stomach before she weakly crawled away, but she didn't get too far before she heard a familiar voice point her out.

"That's Mercilla," Merida said, pointing to her once good friend.

"Guards, bring her here at once!" Fergus shouted.

Two guards ran over to her and grabbed her by the arms, forcefully pulling her up off the ground and dragged her over to the angry crowd of villagers. Once reaching the King and Queen, the two guards released Mercilla's arms. As Mercilla fell to her knees, all she could do now was try and beg for forgiveness for what she had done, but she knew she wouldn't get that lucky. "Please don't hurt me," Mercilla said as she looked up at the peeved faces of Fergus and Elinor.

"Your actions caused our daughter to go missing, you attacked me all those years ago and took my leg as that demonic bear–" but before Fergus could continue, Eggman interrupted.

"You took over my machine and tried to use it to wipe out everyone! Which was you basically stealing my plan." One look from Fergus quickly shut the evil genius up and he moved away from him.

"And more importantly, you almost caused a full-scale war in our kingdom, which led to the destruction of more than half of the kingdom."

"I think the punishment for all these heinous crimes should be execution!" shouted Macintosh, which the two other lords nodded and shouted out their agreement in. They wanted to see Mercilla hung for what she had made them almost do. This was immediately followed by the shouts of approval by the rest of the villagers.

Fergus turned to his wife, looking to see what her opinion on what they should do is. "I agree with everyone," she replied. Fergus turned back to the old woman, who was now cowering in fear at the fate that was going to befall her. "Mercilla, you are going to be executed for your crimes against DunBroch."

"Wait!" This shout caused everyone to look around and see who had said that, which surprised them when they saw both Sonic and Merida step forward towards Mercilla. This woman had tried to kill them both and they wanted to consider another possibility for punishment? "I want to hear her out first, before we consider what to do with her," Merida said. She glared at Mercilla, her mind trying as hard as it could to figure out why Mercilla had done all these things before the woman told her. "Why did you do all of those things?"

"I-I-I wanted to be ruler of dUNbROCH so badly, it possessed me. I was overwhelmed with power, power to become ruler no matter the cost. After this power-hungry state of mind had came over me once again, like it did when your father lost his leg to Mor'du, I couldn't control my thoughts. All I could think about was ruling and enslaving my own people. It was the ideas and thoughts that made me do this. Please don't kill me," the old woman begged to Merida.

Merida thought long and hard about this decision, which was precisely 12 seconds, before she had made up her mind. "I don't think she should be killed." This caused everyone to spurt out angered remarks, claiming that Merida had lost it. "Hear me out. She was under the influence of something, so she couldn't control her thoughts, which caused her to lose her mind and do these horrible things on two occasions. I'm not saying we should let her go and be free, but I think I have an idea that would also work. We need to lock her up away so that whatever had influenced her is still inside her and trapped with her."

As the villagers discussed this option amongst each other, the lords did the same with Fergus and Elinor. After a moment of discussing, and hearing some of the opinions of the villagers, Fergus had made up his mind on the matter. "After thinking this over, the decision to kill Mercilla has been replaced with the decision to lock her up forever, thus preventing her or whatever was in her, from causing trouble for our kingdom ever again."

"What? No!" was Mercilla's response to this decision. She didn't want to be sealed away forever. She'd rather have been killed. She tried to get up and flee, but the two guards from before quickly restrained her. She wasn't going anywhere, for now.

"We need to find a cave or some place that can keep her inside and prevent her from using magic to escape," Merida stated.

"I think I know just the place," Elinor said.

After a trip deep into the forest, Elinor led Sonic, his friends plus Eggman, her family and the rest of the people of Highlandera to a large cave. "I remember coming here a long time ago when I was about my daughter's age. There used to be a terrible dragon that lived here, but has since fled due to some of our warriors driving it away. It specialized in canceling out magical spells, which led to the downfall of nearly all our sorcerers and sorceresses, all save one," she said, looking at Mercilla as she said the last part. "I'm sure the dragon's power has rubbed off onto the cave, he did live in here for about ten years, so I'm sure this will keep her from using a spell to make a get-away."

The two guards dragged Mercilla, who was screaming eccentrically about how they shouldn't do this, but no one cared about what she had to say. Shadow and E-123 Omega walked with the guards. Their job was to seal the cave off once Mercilla was inside. The guards threw the old witch into the cave and got out so that Shadow and Omega could do their job. Mercilla tried to run out, but was still too weak to even do that.

Omega's hands retracted into his wrists and were replaced with gun barrels while Shadow's hands glowed with Chaos Energy. At the same time, their projectile attacks slammed into the ceiling about the cave's entrance, causing a rock slide that buried the cave's entrance with massive boulders and rocks, trapping Mercilla once and for all.

* * *

End of Chapter 11

**A/C: **Next chapter we'll find out what happens at the end of this story, so stay tuned.


	13. Epilogue

As Sonic, his friends, and the villagers returned to the castle, the blue hedgehog knew that it was time to go back home. He wanted to stay for a little while longer in Merida's time, but who knew what Eggman had done back home before he left for here. As they reached the castle's front, he turned to Merida. "I think it's time for all of us to be heading back." He hoped she wouldn't be saddened too bad by this.

"Oh," Merida replied, sadness in her voice. "Why?" She really didn't want her new friends to leave so soon, but if they had to go, she couldn't and didn't want to stop or hold them up in anyway.

"We need to be able to keep our world safe from any sort of danger, plus the Chaos Emeralds need to be returned. Some of my friends also have duties to return to."

"But how will you be able to return to yer own time?" Merida asked.

Sonic hadn't thought of that. Thankfully, Shadow was the one who gave Merida the answer. "G.U.N. has ran tests on these emeralds, test which have revealed to us that if Chaos Control is done with two emeralds in contact with each other, it will cause a portal to be created that has the power to travel anyone through time and space."

Merida sighed as she nodded her head. Almost instantly, her head perked up and she looked at Sonic with an eager look. "Um Sonic, do you think you and Tails could possibly stay here just a wee bit longer?"

"Um, sure," Sonic answered her while Tails nodded his head, agreeing with Sonic.

**((Youtube: watch?v=UYTmo05d0UU starts playing))**

Everyone watched as both Shadow and Silver used Chaos Control with their Chaos Emeralds touching, creating a portal. The portal would automatically send them to the time period they wanted to go. Shadow, Rouge and Omega collected all but two of the emeralds. As Rouge and Omega leaped into the portal, Shadow turned to Sonic. "Bring those two emeralds to G.U.N. as soon as you get back, okay Sonic?"

"Don't worry, I'll jog 'em back," Sonic replied.

Shadow didn't say anything before or while he leaped into the portal.

Knuckles waved to everyone before talking to MacGuffin. "Nice meeting you."

"Aye, nice meeting you too," MacGuffin replied, waving to Knuckles before the red echidna leaped in the portal.

As the Egg-Mobile hovered in front of the portal, all Eggman did was sneer at everyone. "Just be lucky you weren't destroyed by my awesome might." This caused the villagers to laugh, along with boo, the evil genius. "Oh shut up!" he shouted before entering the portal.

Last, but not least, was Silver. "Goodbye everyone. I'm sure that your people and kingdom will have a great future instead of one filled with tyranny," he said with a wave before going through the portal. Once the silver-white hedgehog departed, the portal closed.

**((Music stops))**

Sonic went over to the emeralds laying on the ground and walked back to Merida. "So, what do you wanna do Merida?"

"I could show you some cool ruins I found in the forest," she answered. As she and her two animal friends began to head to the forest, a guy Merida had never met before stood in front of her. It was Young Macintosh.

"Um, I know that the princess that I was arranged to marry wasn't really you. I am glad that your back from wherever it was that you were and glad that you're okay." With that being said, he got onto one knee and looked up at her. "Merida, will you be my princess and my wife?"

Merida looked around, seeing everyone was staring at her, watching and waiting to see what her answer would be. As she looked at her parents, she couldn't quite tell what her father was thinking, but she knew exactly what her mother was thinking. Struggling to make a decision on what she would say that wouldn't make others dislike her, she looked at Sonic, hoping he would have some advice for her. When she looked at the blue hedgehog and his fox friend, she felt calmness sweep over her.

"Do what you want and what you think is right Merida," Sonic told her, Tails nodding in agreement.

"You don't have to do something you don't want to or feel comfortable doing," Tails whispered to her. He didn't want to hurt Young Macintosh's feelings or anything like that.

Her mind finally made up, she turned back to Young Macintosh, who once again asked his question. "Will you marry me Merida?"

"No," Merida said firmly in the nicest way she could. Her response garnered shocked gasps and surprised looks on most of the villagers' faces. Elinor was really embarrassed by this. Her daughter had just flat out refused the hand of a prince. "I'm sorry but, I really don't even know you that well, and I'm not really ready to get married just yet," Merida said.

As Elinor went over to her, feeling tired of all this nonsense Merida was repeatedly doing, she also felt in her mind and inside her heart she simply wanted to let Merida do what she wanted to. She couldn't be changed, no matter what she did to influence Merida. She had to give it one last try though. Maybe it would work. "Merida, you need to be married. You're a princess and you need a prince. This nice young man is offering to marry you and you turn him down. Please reconsider," she said to her in the sternest voice she could muster.

All Merida wanted to do was just shout at her mom, telling her that she wasn't getting married and that she should just butt out of her life, but she knew that doing that would accomplish nothing. She was going to try doing what Sonic had told her before. "No mom, I don't wanna get married, especially to someone I don't even know. This is my life, not your's, and no matter how much you want it to be, it will never be. I promise you that when I'm ready to get married, I will, but I'm not ready yet. Nothing you can do will change my mind," Merida told her mother in a calm, yet firm and determined voice.

**((Youtube: watch?v=NA7QRcgheIY starts playing))**

Just as she was about to say something back, Elinor stopped herself, sighing. All she wanted was for her daughter to be a normal princess, but she had never taken the chance to see how perfect her daughter already was to begin with. Merida was a fine, determined, and all-around nice girl. Now that she took that chance, a smile spread out on her face. "Alright Merida. You don't have to if you don't want to." The villagers all around them were stunned to hear their own queen say this. A queen who had been trying very hard to make Merida a normal princess for sometime now. Despite all the surprised faces, Fergus' was proud of his wife's choice, and glad that she had finally seen her daughter for who she really was and how she was in his eyes.

"R-really?" Merida asked, stunned and surprised at what her mom just said to her. "You ain't really Mercilla are you?"

"No," laughed Elinor. "I'm not Mercilla. I just, I just never took the time to see how perfect you really were as you are now. I always wanted to make you the perfect princess, but should have realized you were perfect in your own way. I'm sorry for not seeing that in you." Her smile grew even bigger as soon as Merida gave her a big hug.

"Thanks mom," Merida said with a smile.

"No problem." After their hug, Elinor returned to her husband's side.

"You made the right choice hun," Fergus said as he hugged her as well.

Merida turned to Sonic and Tails, smiling at them both happily" Thank you both so much. For everything. You two were the ones who helped me take a better stand for what I wanted more than anything, and for that, I am glad to have you as friends. You and any other of your friends are allowed here whenever you choose."

"Thanks, and, no problem Merida," Sonic said as he flashed her a thumbs up, which was followed by happy laughter when Merida gave him a hug.

"I'm glad that we were able to help you," Tails said, also getting a hug from her.

"You ready to go see those ruins?" she asked, feeling adventurous.

"Sure thing," Sonic answered. The three friends started on their way into the forest as the repair work began on the battle-torn village. As Sonic, Tails and Merida dash into the forest, the screen goes black.

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=uNcLULLxKec starts playing))**

'And that's my story,' Merida's voice began to monologue. 'Oh yeah. If your curious about what happened later on, I'll tell you."

An image of Sonic and Tails leaping through the portal leading back to their own time appears. 'Sonic and Tails returned to their time, hopefully in a safe way. I still miss them very much and I hope they decide to come and visit.'

The image changes to that of Merida and her family engaging in a family hug, all of them looking rather happy. 'Ever since that fateful day, I've enjoyed being around my family a lot more, especially my mom. She still tries to control my opinion on some things, but those things are things I'm alright with her help.'

An image of Merida and Elinor shooting arrows at wooden bulls-eyes comes up. 'The most amazing thing about my mom is now she sometimes joins me in my archery practice.'

The image changes to that of Merida talking to her family in the dinner hall, her family listening to her. 'Also, whenever it is dinner time, I'm the one being badgered to tell stories instead of my father. The triplets love to hear about my adventure in Sonic's time.'

The image changes to that of Merida smiling happily out in the forest as she sits on a rock, looking at the rising sun. 'I'm still single, but I don't really mind it. Now that I have my freedom, I feel at peace with everything.'

The image changes to Sonic running across Green Hill Zone, stopping at the edge of a cliff overlooking the massive blue lake as the sun sets. 'And I have a very special blue hedgehog to thank,' Sonic turns towards the screen, facing it as he smiles, giving his famous finger wag. 'Thank you Sonic, so very much.' Sonic then quickly runs off in a blur before the screen turns black quickly.

**((Music Stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=4R7zb_uTH1U starts playing))**

THE HEDGEHOG AND THE BOW

Story Directed By: Jason Kelley

Story Produced By: Jason Kelley

Story Written By: Jason Kelley

Sonic, Tails, and Merida are walking through the forest, heading back to the kingdom. It's been a little while since Sonic and Tails had last been there. "So, you enjoying your princess life now?" Sonic asked Merida.

"Yep," she replied. "My parents are more lenient on the things I can and want to do, and they let me make my own decisions... unless it is something way over my head."

"That's good. Are you and that prince guy who proposed to you going out or anything, or have you even been talking to him?" Tails asked. He was using his twin tails to fly beside the two,

"Ugh, don't bring him up. He hasn't even said one thing to me after I rejected him. Guess I ain't really worth his time or patience," she answered.

Sonic looked at Merida and wanted to make her forget about that guy, so he changed the subject. "You wanna race? I promise not to go too fast like I did the last time."

"Hmmm..." Merida thought over the idea and what would most likely happen: Sonic winning, and made a decision, all the while a small smile slowly crept on her face. "Sure."

As soon as she said that, Sonic instantly took off, running not that fast so he didn't leave Merida and Tails behind. As he saw his two friends quickly coming up on him from behind, he did a back flip. As his feet hit the ground, he was now facing Merida and Tails, while running backwards.

"Show off," Merida said before laughing. Before they knew it, they were approaching the kingdom.

Characters

Roger Craig Smith as Sonic the Hedgehog

Kelly Macdonald as Princess Merida

Kate Higgins as Miles 'Tails' Prower

Julie Walters as Mercilla/Mor'du/Egg-Mor'du

Silver the Hedgehog was sitting in an impressively large room with a group of well-dressed people, who were in-fact DunBroch's current leaders. His mission to fix his future was a success. Silver was in the middle of telling his story of how he managed to save the future. "I was transported into DunBroch's past where I teamed up with Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Merida to save the kingdom from Mercilla, an evil sorceress."

The current leader of DunBroch, who was Stan, the leader of the Europe Freedom Fighters in the future Silver hailed from, smiled at the white-silver hedgehog. He believed every word that Silver had said, having a definite feeling that he wasn't being lied to. "Quite an interesting story. You know, we've been looking for an excellent replacement for that guardian who passed away a few weeks ago, and since we've been great friends for some time now, how would you like to fill the place? I feel you'd be the best, considering you did prevent DunBroch from becoming a tyrannical empire."

Once Stan said this to him, Silver smiled proudly. "I'd be honored."

**((Music stops))**

**((Youtube: watch?v=61IO4nqGvHM starts playing))**

Emma Thompson as Queen Elinor

Travis Willingham as Knuckles the Echidna

Billy Collony as King Fergus

Quinton Flynn as Silver the Hedgehog

Steven Cree as Young Macintosh

At the main G.U.N. headquarters, Shadow and the rest of Team Dark were carrying the seven Chaos Emeralds down one of the hq's many halls. Shadow was glad to finally be back here. He felt that he need a little break so he can relax.

Omega turned to Shadow, walking to the left of him. "What's next Shadow?"

"Rest and relaxation hopefully," the black hedgehog replied. Once they reached a large steel door at the end of the hallway, he went over to it and opened the massive door. As Rouge and Omega waited outside the vault, he went in and began searching for a suitable place to store the emeralds. As he walked over to the left area, he found an empty containment field and decided to place them in there. Once the duty was done, he proceeded out and closed the door, leaving the hallway with Rouge and Omega.

Kirk Thornton as Shadow the Hedgehog

Kevin Mckidd as Lord MacGuffin

Karen Stassman as Rouge the Bat

Craig Ferguson as Lord Macintosh

Vic Mignoga as E-123 Omega

Robbie Coltrane as Lord Dingwall

Mike Pollock as Dr. Eggman

Tara Strong as Harris, Hubert, and Hamish

Back on Angel Island, Knuckles was doing what he always did, sleep on the Master Emerald shrine's steps. As he slept, his mouth hung wide open and his snores were very loud, almost echoing across the ruins.

A lone fly had been circling the sleeping echidna for some time now, but unfortunately for it, it made a wrong turn and accidentally flew into Knuckles' mouth.

As soon as that fly flew into his throat, Knuckles' eyes sprung open as he was forced out of his sleep. Not knowing what was in his throat, he coughed and gagging like mad, trying to get whatever it was out of his mouth.

Luckily, the fly had managed to find its way back out of Knuckles' mouth and flew off, not wanting to have to go through what it just did again.

Once the fly had departed, Knuckles stopped gagging, but now he was panting. All that coughing and gagging wore him out a teeny bit. He sat back down on his step slowly, his hand over his chest, but after a few minutes he relaxed again and returned to sleep.

Extras

Frank Welker

Michael Bell

Tara Strong

David Kaye

Greg Bergger

Tony Todd

Susan Blu

Jason Griffith

Andrea Riley

Dr. Eggman paced back and forth in his fortress' control room, hard at work planning his next scheme to conquer the world and build Eggman Land. As he paced, he spoke aloud to himself, hearing out his plans himself. "What's wrong with me? I'm an evil genius! I'm sure I can think up one good plan that has an actual chance of working this time. I'm sure there's some ancient monster or prophecy that causes mass destruction to occur that I can fulfill." He continued his pacing, somewhat increasing his speed as he thought more. Once he got an idea he would stop. "Maybe I can use the Chaos Emeralds to power some new weapon I think of? I could try that mind-control weapon again I used when I built my Interstellar Amusement Park! I never did have it for that long, but I'm sure I can make another one." An evil and wicked smile appeared on his face. "Yes, that's a wonderful idea."

He ran over to the large computer console and began typing what he wanted, searching for the mind-control weapon's blueprints. "What the?" His search for the weapon came up as 'no result found.' "No, this can't be." He now did searched for it that would search all areas in his systems. After a few minutes, he found a small file, dated 2010. Once he opened it, a small message appeared on the screen. "Mind-control machine blueprints have been deleted from this fortress, courtesy of your friend and pal, Sonic the Hedgehog," Eggman read aloud.

He slammed both of his fists onto the console's keyboard a couple times out of anger before throwing his head back angrily, staring at the ceiling with hate-filled eyes. "SONIIIIIIIIC!" he shouted, thrashing his hands around in the air. The screen goes back to the credits, but Eggman's voice could be heard shouting: "I hate that hedgehog!"

Brave is copyright Disney and Pixar, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sonic the Hedgehog is copyright Sega Co. Ltd. All rights reserved.

Idea and story concept copyright Jason Kelley

THE END

**((Music stops))**


End file.
